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Copy 1 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 



Chap. _._..... Copyright No... 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



^ 



THE HUNTINGTON LETTERS 



THE HUNTINGTON 
LETTERS 

IN THE POSSESSION OF 

JULIA CHESTER WELLS \ 



^- E^TED BY 

W. D; McCRACKAN 

MEMBER OF THE AMERICAN HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION 

AUTHOR OF 

"the rise of THE SWISS REPUBLIC," ETC. 



PRINTED FOR PRIVATE DISTRIBUTION 



\\^%\'^'\ 



THE APPLETON PRESS 
NEW YORK, 1897 



.':■ I MIS 



Copyright, 1897, 
By JULIA CHESTER WELLS. 






Pv^ 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

A Word of Explanation . . . . i 



First Period (1761-1792) . . . .11 

Containing mainly the letters which passed 
between the Hon. Benjamin Huntington and 
his wife Anne. 

Second Period (i 796-1 798) . . . .115 
Containing mainly the letters written by 
Rachel Huntington to her sisters, Lucy and 
Anne (Nancy). 

Miscellaneous Letters and Documents 173 



THE HUNTINGTON LETTERS. 



A WORD OF EXPLANATION. 

These letters are contained in a folio 
marked " Invoices." On the inside of the 
cover is pasted a slip of paper with the 
words : 

1856. 

Mrs. Fanny T. Wells. 

Found among the papers of her mother, 

Mrs. R. Tracy. 

Then follows an engraved portrait of 
Judge Benjamin Huntington, member of 
Congress from Connecticut, 1789. It is 
the same portrait which is to be found 
in " A Genealogical Memoir of the Hunt- 
ington Family," by Rev. E. B. Hunting- 
ton, A. M., and is painted by a grandson, 



®I)e ^Sttntington fetters. 



Daniel Huntington, the well-known por- 
trait painter, and engraved by A. H. 
Ritchie. The words "from an original 
miniature" appear at the bottom of the 
portrait. 

After this come the letters, spread out flat, 
but having once been folded and addressed 
in the old-fashioned way, without envel- 
opes. The collection is by no means com- 
plete, many letters having been given away 
in course of time, or scattered in such a 
manner that they can no longer be traced. 

The correspondents are various mem- 
bers of the family of Benjamin Huntington, 
of Norwich, Conn., the period covered be- 
ing from 1 761 to 1799. Most of the letters 
passed between the Hon. Benjamin Hunt- 
ington himself and his wife Anne, when he 
was serving in the General Assembly of 
Connecticut at Hartford, or in the Con- 
tinental and United States Congresses at 
Philadelphia, Princeton, and New York. 
Others were written by a daughter, Rachel 



Qri)c ^itntington betters. 



Huntington, when on visits in New York, 
Stamford, and Rome, N. Y., to her sisters, 
Lucy and Anne, in Norwich. There are 
letters also from the sons, George and 
Benjamin Huntington. The folio, further- 
more, contains a more or less miscellaneous 
collection of letters and documents, only a 
few of which have been deemed of suffi- 
cient value for publication. 

While it would be too much to claim 
that these letters are capable of arousing 
widespread, popular interest, they are nev- 
ertheless of real value to close students 
of American history, as showing the life of 
an American family which bore its part in 
the struggles of more than a century ago. 
The spirit of the Revolutionary era per- 
vades them in very truth. Especially will 
they deserve the attention of the descend- 
ants and family friends of the persons men- 
tioned in the following correspondence. 
In fact, it is for the sake of this compara- 
tively small group of readers that Miss 



^[)c f untington £etter0. 



Wells now desires to publish the Hunting- 
ton Letters. 

At her request I have undertaken to 
add a word of explanation, without, how- 
ever, attempting to annotate more than a 
few of the many names of persons which 
occur in these pages. It has been my ob- 
ject to reproduce these letters as much as 
possible in their original condition — to let 
them tell their own story, and not to 
edit away their peculiarities. For this 
reason I have retained their vagaries of 
spelling; have refrained from supplying 
punctuation, even when it seemed much 
needed ; nor have I ventured to cut down 
religious effusions, conventional precepts, 
harrowing descriptions of bodily ailments, 
or pretty phrases of courtesy ; these are 
touches of the time, and throw light on 
social and economic conditions. 

The following facts in regard to the 
family history are gleaned from the work 
already mentioned, " A Genealogical Mem- 



QElje fluntington betters. 



oir of the Huntington Family in this 
Country," by Rev. E. B. Huntington, 
A. M., published in Stamford, Conn., 
1863. 

The name of Huntington has been well 
represented in all the industrial, educa- 
tional, military, civil, and religious move- 
ments of the American continent for more 
than two centuries. 

The common ancestor was a certain Si- 
mon Huntington, a Puritan emigrant from 
England. A record of the Roxbury Church, 
in the handwriting of its pastor, the Rev. 
John Eliot, states that Margaret Hunting- 
ton, a widow, came to Roxbury in 1633; 
that she was a member of the church ; that 

she had sons with her ; and that her 

husband had died on the passage, from the 
smallpox. 

Margaret Huntington remained about 
two and a half years in Roxbury, married 
Thomas Stoughton, then of Dorchester, 
and with him, taking probably her young- 



QL\)c iguntington Cotters. 



est three sons, she removed to Windsor, 
Conn., then a new settlement, where she 
spent the rest of her life. 

Two of her sons, Christopher and Si- 
mon, went first to Saybrook, and in 1660 
joined the colonists who settled Norwich. 
They and their descendants at once took 
a foremost position there both in church 
and state. 

Anne Huntington was a great-grand- 
daughter of Christopher ; Benjamin Hunt- 
ington a grandson of Simon. They were 
thus second cousins, once removed. They 
were married May 3 or 5, 1765, she being 
twenty-five years of age and he twenty- 
nine. 

The career of Benjamin may be summed 
up as follows : He graduated from Yale in 
1 761, soon after entered upon the practice 
of law in Norwich, and rose rapidly to the 
front rank of his profession. In 1775 he 
was chosen by the Legislature of his native 
State on the Committee of Safety, ap- 



^1)0 f untington Cetters. 



pointed to advise with the Governor of 
the State during the recess of the Legisla- 
ture. Only the ablest and truest patriots 
of that trying day would have been put 
upon that important committee. Again, 
in 1778, on the recommendation of Wash- 
ington, he was appointed by the Legisla- 
ture one of that convention to be held in 
New Haven for the regulation of the army. 
From 1780 to 1784, and again in 1787 and 
1788, he was a member of the Continental 
Congress ; and when the new Government 
went into operation, in 1789, he was chosen 
to represent Connecticut in the First Con- 
gress of the United States. 

From 1 78 1 to 1790, and also from 1791 
to 1793, he was a member of the upper 
house of the Connecticut Legislature. On 
the incorporation of Norwich City, in 1784, 
he was chosen, for an indefinite period, its 
first mayor, in which office he served until 
his formal resignation in 1796. He was 
also appointed in 1793 a Judge of the Su- 



QL[)t f untington Cettcrs. 



perior Court of Connecticut, holding this 
office until 1798. 

The children of Benjamin and Anne 
Huntington were all born in Norwich: 
Henry, May 28, 1766; Gurdon, March 16, 
1768; George, June 5, 1770; Lucy, Janu- 
ary 21, 1773; Anne (Nancy), March 30, 
1775; Benjamin, March 19, 1777; Rachel, 
April 4, 1779; Daniel, December, 1781. 

Rachel married at Rome, N. Y., Janu- 
ary 19, 1800, William Gedney Tracy, a 
merchant of Whitestown, N. Y., who was 
born in Norwich, Conn., November 15, 
1768. 

Their youngest child, Frances (Fanny), 
married William Henry Wells, of Brattle- 
borough, Vt., and it is her daughter, Julia 
Chester Wells, who now desires the editor 
to prepare for publication " The Hunting- 
ton Letters," which are in her possession. 



FIRST PERIOD. 

1761-1792. 



CONTAINING MAINLY THE LETTERS WHICH PASSED 
BETWEEN THE HON. BENJAMIN HUNTINGTON 
AND HIS WIFE ANNE. 



FIRST PERIOD 

I761-I792. 



When the correspondence opens, Anne Hunting- 
ton is not yet married, and is living with her mother 
at Windham, Conn. She writes to her elder sister, 
Hannah, wife of Gideon Tomlinson, of Stratford, Conn., 
an officer in the army : 

Dear Sister! 

Our last News from Stratford was by Mr. 

Chandler and then no Letter which I 

thought was cruel we are impatient to 

hear from you and hope Shortly to hear 

good News thinking if any thing to the 

contrary had happend we Should have 

heard from you before now.* 

O my Dear Sister I am with you in 

my thoughts almost continually as well 

in my Sleeping as waking Hours last 

* Hannah Tomlinson's only child, Jabez Huntington, 
was born December 24, 1760. His son, Gideon, was 
Governor of Connecticut from 1827 to 1831. 
2 IX 



12 QTlje fnntington £etters. 

Night I wakd my Self Talking to Sister 
Hannah & Lucy I fain would have gone 
to sleep again and Dreamd on but so great 
was my Disappointment in finding all to 
be a Dream that I could not compose my 
Self to sleep for some Hours. I have no 
News except what I have wrote to Sis- 
ter L. Honrd Mama & all Friends at 
Windham are in Health through Divine 
Indulgence, and Nothing would add more 
to my Happiness than your presence 
Mama Designs to hold you to your Prom- 
iss of coming to Windham in the Spring 
I cant but Long for its approach for if you 
come it will be a Spring indeed to me. 
Pleas to give my compts. to Capn. Tom- 
linson tell him I shall Heartily Rejoice to 
see him at Windham I Congratulate him 
& you on his return from the Champaign * 



* The close of the war between England and France, 
called in the American colonies " The Old French and In- 
dian War." It ended with the surrender of Canada to 
the English, September 8, 1760. 



®l)e guntington Cetters. 13 

Mama gives her Love to you & says she 
shall think you unkind if you Dont write 
by Mr Ripley who Designs to make you 
a Visit. Farewell Dearest Sister my best 
wishes attend you am your Affectionate 
Sister & Friend 

Anne Huntington 
Windham 14 Janry 
1761. 

P X S. pleas to give mamas 
& my regards to your Honrd 
Dadda & Mama Compts Miss 
Polly. A H 

To Mrs Hannah Tomlinson 



14 S^i)c Huntington Cettcrs. 



II. 

More than thirteen years have elapsed. Anne 
Huntington, settled in Norwich, writes to her husband, 
Benjamin Huntington, in Hartford : 

Dear Sir ! I rec^ your Second kind Let- 
ter Saturday Evening which in some meas- 
ure Compensated for your not returning 
which I was in great hopes of on account 
of what Brother W Wrote which he never 
told me of till some days after he wrote 
I have partly wrote you two Letters but 
throwd them by because I had no News 
to write but what would add to your 
Trouble and concern about me I have 
had a MelanchoUy time of it ever since 
you"*' been gone for twas but the next 
Morning after you went from home I was 
taken with raising Blood but not to that 



Q;i)e ^tintin9t0n betters. 15 

Degree I did the other turn the Doctors 
Still Speak incouraging to me and think 
my Complaints rather of the Histerick 
than Hectick kind but doctors are Liable 
to Mistakes and often Fail in their Judg- 
ment Especially in Hectick disorders I 
Rest but very 111 Nights Saturday Night 
had but very little Sleep rode out with Na- 
than W yesterday and rested much better 
last Night and am Better this Morning tho 
I Tremble and am weak but have no 
Cough and I hope no setled Fever am 
much discouraged at turns about my 
Disorder but do not dispair of relief God 
has ever been Favourable and is ever 
Merciful 

I trust I^ an Interest in your Prayers 
Dear Sir pray for me that I may not 
have a False Hope 

Dont be too much concernd about me 
but let us rest assured that God will do 
that which is for the Best 
The Children are well and send their 



i6 a:i)e ^txntington Cettets. 

Duty the berer waits and I can only Sub- 
scribe my Self most AfTec*y yours 

Anne Huntington 

Norwich 

Monday Morning- 
23d May 1774 

Benjn Huntington Esq' 



Q:i)e ftintingt0n fetters. 17 



III. 

Benjamin Huntington is deputy from Norwich to 
the General Assembly of Connecticut, in session at 
Hartford. 

Hartford Apfil 2gth lyjs 

Mrs. Huntington 

This is only to let you Know that I am 
well and hope to Come home Next Week 
The Assembly is very full of News and a 
Great Deal of Business but the Members 
Sworn to Secrecy therefore Cannot In- 
forme you of Any News or thing^ of Con- 
sequence but Matters Do not appear to 
me to be Worse than 1 Apprehended 
when I came from home I have Wrote 
to M^ Wetmore Concerning Mother Hunt- 
ington & Mr P Wetmore and have heared 
that Friends at the Westward are well. 



i8 OTIje ^nntin%tan betters. 

M'" Hancock* from Boston arived here 

today on his way to the Congress — Write 

to me by Every Opportunity who am 

your 

Benj Huntington 

* Meeting of the Continental Congress at Philadelphia, 
May 10, 1775, with John Hancock as President. 



®l)e Huntington tctuts, 19 



IV. 

Hartford J/ajr ijtA jj'js 

Mrs Huntington 

I have the Pleasure to Informe you that 
the Lower House have Determined Not to 
Do any Private Disputable Business this 
Session which will make a Short Session & 
I hope to be at home in Ten Days or a 
fortnight Please to Informe Capt Jz Putnim 
thereof and any others that may Inquire of 
you There is News from New York that 
the Forces that are Coming are Destined 
to New York and that the Ships are Chief- 
ly Loaden with English Good & Agents on 
Bond to Sell them to the Yorkers in Spite 
of the Sons of Liberty* but they may 

* The term " Sons of Liberty " was first used by 
Isaac Barre, the companion and friend of Wolfe, sharer in 



20 Qi\)c f untington betters. 

find the Market more Troublesome than 
they Expect — I am your 

Benj Huntington 

Mrs Anne Huntington 

the capture of Louisburg and Quebec, in a speech which 
he delivered in the British Parliament against the Stamp 
Act. It was reported in the American colonies, and at 
once became a household term here. Local organizations 
were formed in the different colonies under this name, 
having as their object the practical nullification of the 
odious Stamp Act by preventing importations and encour- 
aging home industries. 



9[l)e Huntington Cetters. 21 



V. 

Hartford May 24th lyj^ 

Mrs. Huntington, after Tenderest Re- 
gards to you I would Inform you that 
I am in Health and hope to be at home 
this Week but not before Saturday as I 
must Come by the Way of Middle Town 
and you must not be Concerned if I Don' 
git home before Next Week — I hear Betty 
has been sick but Bitter [Better] am afraid 
you^^ Fatigue your Self with hard Work 
without help Pray get help and fav'^ your- 
self as 'much as you Can I have no Great 
Matter of News to Write only that no 
Tories are allowed to Sustain any Office 
in the Colony five or Six Justices and 
Capt Hide for one are left out & Sundery 
Military Officers are Broken on Account 



22 ^\)t iguntington £eUers. 

of Toryism it is a Terrible Time for the 
Enimies to their Country and I wish it 
might Never be better for them till they 
Repent I am your Constant 

Benj Huntington 

Give my Love to the Children & tell 
them I shall very Glad to hear they have 
been good Children, When I come home 

B H 

May 23th ijys 

P. S Since I wrote The foregoing Capt 
Mott has arrived from the Congress 
& Brings news that they are unanimous 
and highly Approve of what we have 
Done in taking Tyconderoga* and Crown 

* '* The possession and control of Lakes George and 
Champlain had from an early date been regarded by the 
people of New York and New England as necessary to 
their protection against the encroachments of the French 
in Canada. It was around Ticonderoga and Crown Point 
that the greater part of the fighting in the French and In- 
dian War occurred. When the Revolutionary struggle 
opened, the importance of those posts was at once recog- 
nized in the Northern colonies, and far-sighted individuals 



(S;i)e gtttttiitigton betters. 23 

Point and have Sent orders for the Mili- 
tary Stores in those Places to be kept at 
the Joint Expence of the Whole Continent 
as also that they Determine that the 
Whole Cost of Defence Shall be born by 
all the Colonies alike in Proportion to 

in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New York alike pro- 
posed their immediate seizure. . . . Ticonderoga was then 
garrisoned by Captain Delaplace, of the Twenty-sixth Regi- 
ment, British Army, and a small company of regulars." 
Captain Edward Mott thus describes the origin of the Ti- 
conderoga enterprise : 

" A number of the principal gentlemen of the Assem- 
bly at Hartford, on Friday, the twenty-eighth day of April, 
Conversing on the distressed Condition of the people of 
Boston, and the means necessary to relieve them, fell on 
the Scheme to take that fortress [Ticonderoga], that we 
might have the advantage of the cannon that were there to 
relieve the people of Boston. I told the Gentlemen that in 
my opinion it might be taken by surprise with a few men, 
if properly Conducted." 

Captains Mott and Phelps, with six or eight volunteers 
from Hartford and re-enforcements from many places on the 
road, marched to Ticonderoga. They were joined by 
Ethan Allen and Seth Warner with their Green Mountain 
Boys. A Massachusetts force, under Benedict Arnold, 
overtook this Connecticut force, and entered the fortress 
gate at the same time — May loth. Thereupon Crown Point 
also was taken. On May i8th, Benedict Arnold surprised 
St. John. — Connecticut Military Record, 1^^^-1848. 



24 ®I)e ^untingtcn Cettera. 

their Ability About forty or fifty Regu- 
lar Soldiers with their Wives and Children 
are now in Hartford who were brought 
from the Northward in a word we have 
none but good Newes these two or three 
Days Except that three Men are Missing 
who were in a Fight a S* Johns last week 
and M^ Wales & others have Wrote from 
New York that they have Intelligence that 
the Indians in Canada are about to take up 
Arms against us I Shall not be at home be- 
fore next Week and am yours till Death 
Benj Huntington 



QTlje ^nntinqton Cetters. 25 



VI. 

Norwich May p/t I'jyd 
Sir I rec^ your Fav^^ of the nth & 14th 
Ins* Have had no oppertunity to send 
you a Line since your Absence to aleviate 
your Fears about Gurdon* He nearly 
recover^- his Lameness the Day after you 
left Home and his Eye is much mended 
and he Quite Brisk and Hearty He shed 

* Gurdon, the second child, married " first, March 20, 
1792, Susannah Tracy, who was born August 8, 1770, and 
died August 21, 1793. He married for his second wife, 
July 6, 1794, Anna Perkins, who was bom February i, 
1768, and died April 21, 1802. He began life as a carriage 
maker at Norwich, but after a few years removed to Rome, 
N. Y., where he became a merchant, and by his strict and 
unbending integrity and the genial kindliness of his heart 
acquired the esteem and respect of all who knew him. He 
was successful in his business, from which he retired some 
years before his death, which took place in 1840." — Hunt- 
ington Memoir^ 



26 2[l)e ignntington Cetters. 

Tears when I read the parts of your Let- 
ters that concern<i him The rest of our 
Family are well for which Fav^ we have 
Great reason to be thankful. There has 
been Two Deaths in the Landing since 
your Absence John Watermans only Child 
and Salla Weeks very Suddenly The 
Children Send their Duty and all want to 
have you return. Hope you enjoy Health 
of Body and Tranquility of Mind and that 
the Disagreables of Absence will be Am- 
ply repaid in the Publick Good. I am 
with a Grateful return of Affection and 
Esteem Yours 

Anne Huntington 

P X S Hon*"d Mother sends you her Best 
Regards A H 

If you can git some Tea* at a Constitu- 

* " Yielding in part to the storm in America, the Par- 
liament took the tax off of nearly everything except tea. 
By releasing a part of the English duty on tea sent to 
America the Government arranged it so that the Ameri- 
cans, after paying a tax in America, would have their tea 



eri]e ^ttntington Cotters. 27 

tional Price I Should be very glad if it 
was but a Little thare is none here but 
what is sold in a Clandestine manner A H 



cheaper than before. The Americans were not contending 
for a little money but for a principle, and they refused to 
receive the tea. They began to drink tea made of sassa- 
fras roots, sage, raspberry leaves, yaupon, and other Ameri- 
can plants." — The Household History of the United States 
atid its People, by Edward Eggleston. 



28 Q:i)e ^nniin^ton Cotters. 



VII. 

Hartford Afay 20th ly/d 

Mrs Huntington 

I Embrace Every Opportunity to Write 
to you This is the 3^ Letter I have Wrote 
but have Not yet heared from you nor the 
Children am Greatly Concerned for You 
all but hope Nothing Bad has hapned be- 
cause I have had no Intelligence I have no 
news to Acquaint you of tho Much is said 
here About Reports from the Northward 
some Say that Quebec is taken whilst 
others affirm our Army there has Re- 
treated but those Reports are none of 
them well Authenticated * — The Tories at 
the Westward 1 Presume you have heared 

*The evacuation of Canada by the Americans took 
place June 18, 1776. 



QL[\c Huntington betters. 29 

are Detected in Raising Men to Butcher 
their Country Men and are taken up & 
Imprisoned to the Number of 39 at Fair- 
field — My Duty to Madam & Love to the 
Children hope to be at Home Next Week 
I am your Affectionate 

Benj Huntington 

Mrs Anne Huntington 



so ^[)c Huntington iL^tteta. 



VIII. 

Hartford May 21st iyy6 

Mrs Huntington 

I Wrote you a Line yesterday in which 
I said Something about News which then 
was not authenticated but Since that have 
had it Confirmed that about 500 Troops 
before Quebec had been Obliged to Re- 
treat 15 Leagues up the River S^ Law- 
rence. Leaving all the Sick to the Mercy 
of the Regulars but that they are Encamp- 
ing at Convenient Place to Command the 
River which if Maintained -will Answer 
our Purpose — We also had News yester- 
day which Comes with Credit that one of 
the Yankey Vessels in Boston Bay has 
taken a Store Ship belonging to George 
Guelph with 75 Tons of Gun Powder and 



Qi[)t f nntitt9t0n fetters. 31 

1000 Stand of Arms on Bord — I am in 
Hopes of Coming home Next Week Some 
Talk of this Week but I think Business on 
hand will not be finished by that Time I 
have not yet heard from you nor the 
Children Since I Came from home — If 
you have any Chance to buy Flax or 
Wool before I Come pray buy as much 
as is Necessary — Tell Harry * I have 
Bought Tully's Orations and that Gur- 
don must have it when he has Done 
with it but leant Buy a Greek Grammar 
in Hartford 



* Henry, the eldest child, " graduated at Dartmouth in 
1783, and entered upon the profession of law, but soon 
abandoned this for commercial pursuits. He established 
himself in business in New York, and had also an interest 
in the partnership of George Huntington & Co., of Rome, 
N. Y. Becoming largely interested in land speculation, he 
soon removed to Rome, where he spent the remainder of 
his life in a most successful business career. He was 
chosen President of the Bank of Utica, and retained the 
post until his resignation a short time before his death, 
when his failing health hindered his weekly visits to Utica. 
His business career, from its beginning to its close, was 
marked by a high tone of honor and integrity. ... In 



32 Sri)€ ^untinjgton betters. 

I wish you would Speak to M'^ De Witt 
and Desiree him to take £2(^,17,1 York 
Currency * out of that Money in the Sheet 
in your Care and Send it with my Com- 
pliments to Mess*^ Van Vleck & Ship in 
New York to Pay for Some Duck I owe 
them for. I Choose to send it by Land 
and have Waited for nothing but an Op- 
portunity to Send by a Trusty hand Since 
Rec^ the Duck I have an order here on 
the Treasury for the same Sum 

1805, 1806, and 1807 he was a member of the New York 
Senate, and in 1806 was also a member of the council of 
appointment. In 1816 and 1818 he was a member of 
the Assembly. In 182 1 he was a member of the con- 
vention for revising the State Constitution. He was also 
one of the presidential electors in the elections both of 
1808 and 1812. ... He married Catherine M. Havens. 
His death occurred in Rome in 1846." — Huntington 
Memoir. 

*"The coins that circulated in the colonies were 
chiefly foreign, and each colony had a rate of its own, 
which was already disturbed by the issue of paper money 
in Massachusetts." — Bancroft's History of the United 
States of America, p. fff. vol. ii. 

A national coinage for the United States was not 
established by Congress until 1786, 



QL{)t ^tintington £eUers. 33 

I am with the Most Endearing Sentiments 
of Conjugal Esteem your 

Benj Huntington 
M^s Huntington 

PS if Mr De Witt has no Opportunity 
to Send the Money before I Come home I 
Suppose it will not be much Matter Only 
this That wish to be Prompt in Payment 

B H 



34 ®I)^ Huntington €cncx&. 



IX. 

Hartford 3fa-y 2gth I'j'jy 

M^s Huntington 

I take this Opportunity to Convey a 
Line which have more Leisure to Write 
than I had to Answer yours by John 
Stockwell 

It is with Concern that I hear of any 
Difficulty you Meet with in your (Widow- 
hood) but hope you will not Suffer among 
a Civil People Especially when you are 
able to Pay for all the Favours & Supplies 
you want — we Read that '' the full fed 
Soul Loatheth the Honey Comb, when we 
are put to Distress for an Article for the 
Support of Life we know better how to 
prize it I wish to be more Thankfull for 
every Enjoyment than I have been, & hope 



QL\)c jinntinjgton Cetters. 35 

to see a Greater Scarsity of Money than 
we have at Present. That the Worship- 
ers of Mammon may be Put to Difficulty 
to Come at the Shrine of their Idol whose 
Worship must be Supported and will be 
kept up at the Expence of all that is Good 
& Praiseworthy — That God has but one 
Perfection and that is the Idea of Infinite 
Increase or Augmentation and when the 
Materials of Increase are Plenty his Size 
must Grow to an amazing Bulk his Wor- 
shipers are hearty Sincear & True for they 
Give their Hearts and Souls to him and 
his Service is their Most Perfect Freedom 
a Freedom that Differs not from Slavery — 
The Assembly Yesterday had a Most Seri- 
ous Debate upon the Question whether they 
would Repeal the Act for Regulating Prizes 
[Prices] ^ This Debate was brought on 

* An act for regulating prices was already in force. 
In this session of May, 1777, an attempt was made to re- 
peal the act, but without success. On the contrary, the 
principle was reaffirmed, and severe penalties decreed 
against violators. Maximum prices were fixed for pork. 



36 9ri)e ^tttxtington fetters. 

by Gentlemen in Trade and Seconded by 
Farmers who have No Avertion to Money 
nor to the Ways of Gitting of it Serious- 
ness Brooded on their Countenances they 
Declared that articles of Life & for the 
Army would always be Scarse untill the 
Poor Farmer and the Honest Importer 
Could be Encouraged to their Several 
Emploments of Raising, Importing &c and 
that the Prices stated by Law were in 
many Instances low & Disheartening and 
Would bring on a Scarsity, these Men 
were such as I am sure Wished well to 
their Country, but the God of this World 
had blinded their Eyes I Never Saw 
More Seriousness appear on hearing a 
Most Authodox Hopkintonian Sermon 
than was in the House & on full Debate 
& Consideration the Question was Put 



West India rum, New England rum, best Muscovado 
sugar, American manufactured cheese, best neat-leather 
shoes, salted pork, good yard-wide tow cloth, rye, wheat, 
flour, and molasses. — Public Records of Connecticut^ vol, i. 



®l)c Huntington £etters. 37 

whether The House would give Liberty 
to a Certain Great Patriot to bring in a 
Bill for the Repeal of the Law against 
Monopolies & Oppression, there were but 
about ten or Twelve Hands up for the 
Repeal, to the Great Mortification of the 
Mammonites who will yet be seen to wor- 
ship on Every high Hill and under every 
Green Tree 

It is now under Consideration whether 
an Act Shall be Passed to make it more 
Dangerous to Violate the Law against 
Oppression, That no man shall, after his 
Covinction for a Breach of that Law be 
Capable of Holding any office Civil or 
Military nor to Recover a Debt or Re- 
ceive a Deed of Land and that None shall 
hold an Office untill he has taken a Solomn 
Oath that he has not Violated that Law 
Directly nor Indirectly after the loth Day 
of June Next which Act I hope will Pass 
and that Justice & Virtue May in our Day 
Triumph over Iniquity — I have a New ap- 



38 QTljfi Huntington fetters. 

pointment on the Commit of Safety* for 
the year Ensuing but am very Sorry to 
See Gen^ Huntington f left out he is a 
Useful Man in that Business & has Ren- 
dered good Service to his Country but it 
is in Vain to Expect a Reward for any 
Good Deed in this World if the Reward 
is to Come from the Hands of Designing 
Men — There were about Eighty Prisoners 
brought into this Town yesterday taken 
from Long Island by a Party who went 
over & brought them off the (Point) agree- 



* The Committee of Safety consisted of the Governor 
and a few other gentlemen of the Assembly, whose duty it 
was to devise ways and means for carrying on the war, at 
this time an extremely difficult and important task. 

•}• Jedediah Huntington, of Norwich, appears on the 
Lexington Alarm List as colonel. He served twenty-three 
days, being stationed at Roxbury during the siege of Bos- 
ton in 1775. In 1776 he fought under Washington in the 
campaign around New York. In 1777 he was promoted 
to brigadier general of the Continental Army, saw much 
service throughout the war, wintered at Valley Forge, and 
was a member of the court that tried Andre. He retired 
with the disbandment of the army in June, I783» and died 
September 25, 1818. 



QL[)c i^nntin%ion Cettcrs. 39 

able Mr Joseph Chew is one of those Cap- 
tives. Capt Benj Throop * was one of the 
Captains in the Expedition & Little Joseph 
Lothrop t of Norwich was in the Party, 
they Came up with the feelings and ap- 
pearace of Victors no Doubt they had Sen- 
sations of the Similar Kind that were had 
by Alexander the Great — I am at a Loss 
when I Shall Come home as I Cannot Con- 
ceive of the Assembly Rising- this Week 
If you have spent your Money you must 
Try my Credit a few Da3^s among Friends 
— My Love to the Children & Compli- 
ments to Capt Abel & other Friends and 
Good Wishes to Enemies, that they may 
become Friends — There is one Stone to 
be Executed here this Morning between 
the Hours of 8 & 10 for Conspiracy against 

* Captain Benjamin Throop, of Norwich, was lieuten- 
ant in 1775, captain in 1776, promoted major in 1778, and 
retired January i, 1783. On the Connecticut pension rolls 
he appears as living in New York in 1818. 

f Joseph Lothrop's name occurs in the Lexington 
Alarm List as that of a private who served one day. 



40 QL\)e Huntington Cetters. 

his Country — May God be Merciful to 
him — I am afraid he will Suffer too Much 
for his Crime, but am not his Judge if his 
own Account of his Case is True his Case 
is hard — I know not the Truth of what 
he says and Indeed Suspect it much — I 
am &c 

Benj Huntington 
M^s Huntington 



QL\)c i9nntin9t0n tctuvs. 41 



X. 

More than three years have elapsed. Benjamin 
Huntington is now a member of the Continental Con- 
gress, in session at Philadelphia. 

Norwich /nne loth jySo. 

Dear Sir 

I rec^ a Line from you Dated at Hart- 
ford and had the Pleasure of hearing from 
you by M'' Bill had soon an oppertunity 
of sending Harry the things I forgot in 
my Great perturbation to put up for him 
Have heard nothing from him since you 
left Home 

Our Family are all by Favour of Provi- 
dence in Health which is nearly all that is 
worth while (in the small Circle of my 
Affairs to communicate at such a Great 
Distance. Am anxious till I hear how 
you have the Small Pox, tis needless to re- 



42 QElje ^nntington Cettera. 

quest you to let me hear from you by the 
first Opertunity. Mr Frisby continues 
here and says Nothing- about changing his 
Lodgings he Determined not to keep 
school here more than this Quarter he says 
M' Spalding the Young Atty from Can- 
terbury was in Town this Week to git a 
Place to Board. Shall want your advice 
where to send the Boys to School Gurdon 
studies his Accidence yet but believe (to 
use his own Phrase) does not Extend him- 
self have heard nothing said about gitting 
another Schoolmaster Please to make my 
Devoirs to M^^ President* and except of 

* The wife of Samuel Huntington, who was a signer 
of the Declaration of Independence, and President of the 
Continental Congress from September 28, 1779, until July 
6, 1781, when he resigned on account of failing health. 
He was perhaps the most illustrious member of the Hunt- 
ington family. He was elected Governor of Connecticut in 
1786, and died in 1796. In 1761 he married Martha De- 
votion, daughter of his pastor. They had no children of 
their own, but their home was the resort of a large circle of 
friends and relatives. Samuel learned the trade of a 
cooper when a youth, but through diligent study fitted him- 
self for the bar, so that before his thirtieth year had ended 



^[)c §nntinqton Cettcrs. 43 

Best Wishes for Health & Happiness From 
your 

Affectionate &c Anne Huntington 

P S there has been Plenty of Wheat 
cry^i along Street to Day 100 Dollars p^ 
Bushel. 



he was not simply an established lawyer, but one who had 
already won distinction. 

It is still remembered that Mrs. Huntington "in a 
white short gown and stuff petticoat, and clean muslin 
apron, with a nicely starched cap on her head, would take 
her knitting and go out by two o'clock in the afternoon, to 
take tea unceremoniously with some respectable neighbor, 
the butcher's or blacksmith's wife, perhaps. But this was 
in earlier days, before Mr. Huntington was President of 
Congress or Governor of Connecticut." — History of Nor- 
wick, by Frances AI. Caulkins. 



44 Qri)c Huntington tcticxB, 



XI. 

Norwich Sep^r 22^ lySo. 

Sir: 

I rec^ yours of the first Inst* in which 
I have the agreeable ace* of your Health 
and had Since the pleasure of the Like 
by M^ EUery who inform^ me he Sat 
at the Same Board with you when at 
Philadelphia. Our Family and relatives at 
Norwich are well except Harry who has 
inform^ you of his misfortune. Deacon 
Huntington has lost his Son Roger in a 
Sudden and surprising manner As he was 
studying at Doc Rogers's with a sharp 
pointed Pen knife Carelessly in his Hand 
a Fly Bit him and he knock^ his knees 
together and pierced the knife into his 
Thigh and cut Through the main Artery 



a:i)e ftrntington betters. 45 

Doc Rogers Soon stopt the Blood from 
coming through the Wound bound it up 
and did not open it for Several Days tis 
thought the Doc* was not skill^ in such 
Capital wounds the Thigh Swell*^ to a 
great Degree and they Had Doc Turner 
to it he open^ it and found near Two 
Quarts of Clotted Blood within the Thigh 
and a Mortification begun he told the 
Young man Immediate Amputation was 
the only Possible Remedy and that a very 
improbable one to which he consented and 
in less than an Hour after the operation 
Expired on the 7th Instant. Capt^ Edger- 
ton's Daughter Lucy was Buried this Day 
his Son Ben. is very sick with the Long 
Fever. I think we have great cause of 
ThankfuUness for the Discriminating Fa- 
vour of Providence in preserving the Lives 
of all our Children. I have a great many 
things to say but have so many Family 
Avocations pressing upon me, tis very Dif- 
ficult for me to write any thing in the Day 



46 ^\)c f untington tcitcxB, 

Time, and my Sight fails me very much so 
that I am not able to write much by can- 
dlelight. I believe I must come to the use 
of glasses if 1 can find any I have try^ to 
Procure some Cyder but can hear of none 
to be sold nearer than Connecticut River 
Believe I shall send there with M'^ Isaac 
Abel to git some he says he will buy a 
Load of Hay for us and settle with you 
when you Return E Lord Fails me about 
Hay M' Hough Call^ at our House the 
other Day to see us I askd him if he would 
give me the Money for the State Note 
you mentiond he said the Assembly had 
not setled how they should be rec^ and he 
expects they will the Next Session he 
offerd to let me have what Money I 
wanted and Believe I shall except his 
offer I indeavour at the best accon- 
omy I am Mistress of but you are sen- 
sible of the Nessary expence of our 
Family I intend to engage Pork as 
soon as I can I suppose it will be very 



^\)c ^nntinQton £ctters. 47 

Dear we give 4 Dollars a pound for 
Beef.* 

I did intend to have gone to Windham 
soon but cant Leave Harry at Present and 
shall omit it till you return, which I heart- 
ily wish for 

From, Dear Sir 

your Anne Huntington 
HoN^sL Ben Huntington 

N. B. Cap^ Abel came here to Night 
and told me not to forgit to give you his 
kind Compos and tell you he wants to see 

* To show the hardships encountered by this good 
woman, and her resolute patriotism, I quote from the Hunt- 
ington Memoirs, pp. 89, 90 : " On one occasion of pressing 
want on the part of our Revolutionary Army, an earnest 
call was made upon the families of Norwich for supplies of 
clothing. In the absence of Judge [Benjamin] Hunting- 
ton, then away in the service of the State, his wife, select- 
ing a single blanket in which to wrap her youngest child 
[Rachel], forwarded all the rest to the army, and supplied 
their place on the beds at home by blankets cut from the 
carpets on the floor, preferring for the present well-sanded 
floors without their accustomed covering, so that the noble 
patriotism of the needy army might be encouraged and 
rewarded." 



48 @:i)e ^umington Cetters. 

you very much the Children send their 
Duty 

Elisha Lathrop & Jaz Perkins Esq'^ are 
Chosen Deputies for the Town of Nor- 
wich. 



®l)e ipttittington Cetters. 49 



XII. 

Norwich May 2gth lySs 

Dear Sir! 

I rec^ your Letter and the Money by Coll 
Halsey With Pleasure can inform you am 
in a much better state of Health than when 
you went from home the rest of our Fam- 
ily are well a favour we ought to notis 
with Gratitude Harry is now at home on 
account of M^ Huntingtons Indisposition 
he Designs to return as soon as he can 
Hear Mr H is recover^ Coll Durkey last 
Night left this w^orld with the Greatest 
Seeming composure and Resignation I 
think we have Just reason to lament his 
Death I wish you Health and Happiness 
and no anxiety about us at home we have 
a kind Providence ever attendant upon 



50 Qiijc f untington £etters. 

us and a Prospect of being very comfort- 
able on all acc^s but the want of your com- 
pany which is indeed very hard to be 
reconciled to Brother Huntington from 
Windham went from here this afternoon 
he appears Chearful and more like himself 
than I have seen him for a long time he 
says his Wife and sister Stoors * are com- 
ing to see me in a few days have heard 
nothing from M'* Clark since you went 
from Home Mother seems as contented as 
can be expected. 
Pray write b}^ M^ Tracy to 

Your Constant and Affectionate 

Anne Huntington 

* A younger sister, Lucy, who was born in Windham, 
June i6, 1744, and married Colonel Experience Storrs, of 
Mansfield, Conn., where she died, February 6, 1801. 



®:i)e fluntington ILetters. 51 



XIII. 

Norwich June 4th 1782 

DR Sir! 

I wrote you by Cap^ Fred^ Tracy a few 
Days past since which have nothing Ma- 
terial to Inform you of except that we are 
all well which am willing to give you the 
latest inteligence of I am impatient to 
hear how you got to P and whether you 
enjoy Health and I was going to say when 
I may expect to see you but I Forbear 
Harry is at Home yet but shall git him 
ready to go as soon as I can I hear M^ 
Huntington has nearly recover^ from his 
Illness 

Our Horse has not been fit for Service 
since he came Home by reason of a Swell- 
ing on his Back Doc Perez has been very 



52 8ri)e Huntington Cctters. 

busy with his Skill Knife & Precipitate 
and thinks the Horse in a good way and I 
Believe thinks himself so too I trouble you 
with this ace* of the Horse because I dont 
know but you will choose to give some 
Directions about Him 

I shall count the Days till M*^ Browns 
Return when I hope to receive a Line 
from your Hand I inclose a Certificate 
from Capt carew which he omited — I am 
Dear Sir without Reserve 

Yours Anne Huntington 

P X S Mother Desires to be suitably Re- 
membred as do the Children 

Benjamin Huntington Esq^ 



^\)c igmitington £euers. 53 



XIV. 

Philadelphia August jtk lySs 

Dear M^s Huntington 
The Pleasure of Writing to my faithful 
Partner is great but that of Receiving a 
Line from you is greater. It brings Tid- 
ings from my best Friend on Earth. By 
it I learn the State of the Dear Family for 
whose Happiness Honor & Interest my 
deepest Concerns are employed. If a 
Temporary Absence from Such a Friend 
is Painful, how unsupportable must a finale 
Separation be. But not to anticipate Sor- 
row we ought to Reflect that our Present 
Enjoyments are the Gifts of Heaven to 
Promote our Happiness in this Imperfect 
State and that without them our Lives 
would be insipid But the Hopes of a 



54 S[l)e Huntington betters. 

Blessed Immortality Resting on a Sure 
Foundation of Privilege laid in Matchless 
Wisdom & Benevolence and Confirmed by 
the Omnipotence of him whose Designs 
Cannot be Defeated, afford solid Consola- 
tion to the Mind even whilst we are driven 
in the Midst of Boisterous Events down 
the Troubled Torrent of Time. When 
we Consider that all our Infirmities Suffer- 
ings Pains Bereavements & Mournings are 
designed by Heaven to bring us to that 
Pure Meekness of Spirit in which alone we 
Can Partake of Immortal Joy, the most 
Ponderous Destresses in this World be- 
come Welcome Corrections from the Hand 
of our almighty Parent This Rapsody of 
thought Occurred on Sitting Down to 
Write & upon Turning my Thoughts 
towards home — I am in Good Business and 
hope to find you in better health, and that 
you will not omit Riding out as often as 
you can — But after all our Efforts for Self 
Preservation, our whole Trust must be in 



Qriie i|untington Cettera. 55 

that being who alone is Able to help us for 
vain is the help of Man 

Give my love to the Children 
I am your Affectionate 

Benj Huntington 

M'^ Lathrop tills me Gurdon is Coming 
here which I hope he will not fail to do by 
the next Packett whilst I am here 

B H 



56 Q:i)e f ttntington £etters. 



XV. 

Princeton Sept^ 8th 178^ 

Dear M^^ Huntington 
Since my Last Nothing Material has 
hapned a Dutch Minister is Dayly Ex- 
pected to arrive in Philadelphia and it was 
Rumoured that Some of his furniture was 
arrived last Week This must be a Won- 
derful great Affair and what Congress can 
Do with this Great Personage in Prince- 
ton is more than Humane Wisdom can 
Divise for there are not Buildings Suf- 
ficient to House more Dons nor (in) Indeed 
as many as are Already here Some are 
under Necessity to Go to Philadelphia 
once or Twice a fortnight to Breath in 
Polite Air. The Country so badly agrees 
with those Sublime & Delicate Constitu- 



6[l)e Huntington Cotters. 57 

tions that it is to be feared that many of 
them will Contract a Rusticity that Can 
never be wholly Purged off We have noth- 
ing here but the Necessaries and Comforts 
of Life and who can live so ? The Agree- 
ables of the City cannot be had in the 
Country I Expect no Business of Impor- 
tance will be Done untill Congress Returns 
to that Sweet Paridice from which they 
hastily took Flight in June last* Since 
which Time an Awkward Rustication has 
been their Painful Situation on an Emi- 
nence in the Country where they have no 
Musquitoes to Serenade them in bed and 

* The Continental Congress more than once changed 
its place of meeting, though Philadelphia was its first and 
customary home. 

In 1777 Alexander Hamilton, who was ordered to 
Philadelphia to secure stores, gave Congress notice of im- 
mediate danger one evening, and its members, few in num- 
ber, fled in the night to meet at Lancaster. 

Toward the end of Jvme, 1783, mutinous soldiers sur- 
rounded Congress in Philadelphia, clamoring for their pay. 
Congress insisted that the State authorities call out the 
militia to restore order, and the request being refused, it 
adjourned to Princeton. 



58 Sri)e ^nntiriQton fLntcxs, 

in the Day they have a Prospect of no 
more than 30 or 40 Miles to the High 
Lands on the Sea Coast nor can they hear 
the musick of Carts and Waggons on the 
Pavements in the City nor See the motly 
Crowd of Beings in those Streets. This 
must be Truely Distressing to Gentlemen 
of Taste — The Ladies make less Complaint 
than the Gentlemen and the Gentlemen 
who have their Ladies here seem in some 
Degree Contented. The President* of 
Congress who Belongs in the Jersy is 
obliged to leave his Lady in Philadelphia 
to Keep Possession but has the Promise of 
a Very Genteel House here if he will take 
it but not Knowing whether Congress will 
abide in Princetown or not, he is at the 
utmost Loss what to Do, Whether it is 
best for him and his wife to live together 
as Peasants do in the Country or for her 
to be at Philad^ as the Ladies do, and for 

* Elias Boudinot. 



Ql\]c §nntin%ton Cetters. 59 

him to Live as a Gentleman Doing Busi- 
ness in the Country in hopes of Retiring 
to the Pleasures and amusements of the 
City when Business is over this Matter 
Requiring Great Deliberation Cannot (like 
the Emigration of Congress in June last) 
be hastily Determined Thus you See we 
Great Folks are not without Trouble. I 
hope to become a small man in a few 
Weeks and Retire from the Embarrass- 
ments of Dignity to the Plain & Peaceful 
Possessions of a Private Life not Desiring 
to Live without Business but to do useful 
Business without ye Pangs & Vanity of 
this Wicked World 

All I have Wrote is not what I Desisfned 
when I began & Consequently have not 
yet advanced one Step toward any Design 
and having nothing to Write About am at 
a Great Loss what to Write because it 
Requires more Strength of Genius to Build 
on Hansom Fabrick without Materials than 
with — I am Spending Money very fast but 



6o Qiljc ^nntin^ton tetters, 

not so fast as I Could with the Same Degree 
of Industery in Philadelphia & it is a Morti- 
fying Consideration that my Cash is Spent 
for no better Purposes, but the Great & 
General Concerns of a Nation must at- 
tended to and the Fashions & Customs of 
the World are Such as Require it to be 
Done with Expence — A new Fashion is 
among the Ladies here which is the Same 
as at Philad^- The Roll is much less than 
formerly and is Raised to a Peak on their 
Forehead Frowzled and Powdered and 
they wear Men's Beaver Hats with a 
Large Tye of Gauze like a Sash or Mourn- 
ing Wead about the Crown & Decorated 
with Feathers & Plumes on the Top which 
makes a very Daring Appearance The 
Brim of the Hat is Loped before about 
as low as their Eyes and is a Kind of Rid- 
ing Hat They Walk Abroad and Sit in 
Church in the Same. Some have them in 
the Same Figure made of Paper and Cov- 
ered with Silk with Deep Crowns as a 



®:i)c ^untingtan tttttts, 6i 

Beaver Hat but as this is much out of the 
Line of Business I was sent here to do I 
have not been very Particular on the Sub- 
ject I might also mention the Waistcoat 
and Long Sleaves much like the Riding 
habits our Ladies wore Twenty five years 
ago but as they Differ some from them & 
having no Right to be very Much in Ob- 
servation upon the Ladies I am not able to 
say Much on the Subject 
Give my love in Particular to Every Child 
in our Family & Regards to Friends & 
Neighbors 

I am Dear Spouse 

your Most Affectionate 

Benj Huntington 

Mrs Anne Huntington 



^[)c Huntington Cetters. 



XVI. 

N. York July first 1788 

Mrs Huntington 

M' John Smith the Barber Sets out this 
morning for Chelsea & is the Bearer of 
this — I arrived safely at Capt Hardings in 
48 hours from the Time I left home had no 
fair wind and was in a heavy Rain about 
half the Way yet was very comfortable 
the whole Passage Old M''^ Bates and 
her grand-Daughter Miss Betsey Bunce 
were on Board & Arrived Safe after an 
abundance of Sea-Sickness Capt Culver 
will sail in four or five Days & by him I 
shall send you a little Flour — My Lodgings 
are Convenient & the House at Present 
Very full of New England Gentlemen who 



^\)t f nntington fetters. 63 

Incline to put up at a House of their own 
Country Man. Capt Harding & his Lady 
are both in health & send Compliments 
&c they have no Family but themselves 
and two Servants I have seen D"" Cogs- 
well but have not found whether I Spell 
his Name right or not have also seen Pros- 
per Wetmore & his Brother Robert & 
beared from our Friends at Stratford & 
Stamford &c all well. M"* James Daven- 
port * was here but one or two Days be- 
fore I arrived & is Expected again soon 
Have Inclosed the News & therefore have 
nothing to say about that Subject saving 
only that we expect News this Day from 
Virginia that they have adopted the New 
Constitution — By Capt Culver I shall 

* A half-sister of Anne, Elizabeth, married the Hon. 
Abraham, son of Rev. John Davenport, of Stamford, Conn. 
It was this Abraham who called for lights in the legislative 
hall on the igth of May, 1780, declaring his intention, if 
the Judgment Day was approaching, of being found at his 
post of duty. Their children were five, among whom 
John and James were members of Congress, and Elizabeth 
married the Dr. James Coggsweli mentioned in this letter. 



64 ^i)c ^ttntingt0n £etters. 

Write some Directions about Sundery 
Matters which I had not Time to think 
of before I left Home 
Give My Love to the Children 

I am your Benj Huntington 



^\]z ^gnntington Cettere. 65 



XVIL 

Norwich /ufy 28th rj88 

I have just heard that Capt. Culver 
Sails this Morning have only time to ac- 
knowledge the receit of yours of the 24 
& 25th Inst* I esteem it a privilege that 
I can hear from you so often. I have 
been obliged to spare some of the f^our 
you sent me and have but very little left 
Should be glad if tis convenient you 
would send me some more. We have 
dismised Man Cyrus for some cavalierly 
conduct in particular striking Hezekiah on 
the head with a stone for a small affront 
and some other enormities of the like na- 
ture. Harry sent him with a letter to 
Sister Wales and one enclosed to the Se- 
lectmen to deliver if she pleased I pitied 



66 S:i)e f untington betters* 

the poor fellow but dont think him quali- 
fied to live at our house I was loath to 
have any such overtures made in your 
absence but suppose you would have done 
the same had you been present. I hope 
you will come home in September and 
wear your own Cloaths. 

I am yours 

Anne Huntington 

Benjn Huntington Esq^ 



QLi)c ^untittigton fetters. 67 



XVIII. 

Norwich August nth jySS 

Dear Sir I have been very Sick but the 
Doctor tells me I am better but am very 
weak I have been greatly mortified about 
my neglect in not acknowleging the rec* of 
the Shawls &c by Mr Warren which he 
Deliverd as soon as he ariv<^ 
I was very well pleasd with my Shaul & 
think it an elegant one and if ever I git 
well I shall wear it I gave the little one 
to Rachel * which pleases her much I am 
Loath you should know that I am sick but 
dont let it ditress you only let me have 
your prayers. Our Children both sons & 
daughters have ever since your absence 
done every thing in their power for my 

* The seventh child, Rachel, was nine years old at 
this date. It was she who subsequently wrote most of the 
letters which form the latter part of this collection. 



6S Ql[)c ^mtinQton Cetters. 

comfort dont think of returning on ac- 
count of my indisposition I realy think it 
will injure you and the family. 
I have an excellent kind Nurse in M^ 
Dains and now you want to know what 
ails me I believe my distemper is without 
name in the first place I had a considerable 
high fever attended with great pain so 
that for about a week I got no quiet sleep 
but by opperation of opium I am now 
almost Clear of fever and can Sleep quietly 
without opium nothing at present seems to 
hinder my Gitting about but a general 
weakness & debility which the Doct^ says 
Time will remedy 

I did not expect when I first took up my 
pen that I should be able to write three 
Lines I cant answer your Letters that 
came since my sickness only we have rec^ 
the 4i bbl flour 

I am your Anne Huntington 

Benjn Huntington Esq^ 



S^l)c i§untington tettctB. 69 



XIX. 

Norwich March ^it lySg. 

Sir 

The letters by M^ Rodman Capt^^ Cul- 
ver & Niles with the flour &c have been 
duly rec^. I wish I cou^ acknowledge 
your favours with propriety but my 
Strength will not admit of writing- but a 
few lines I have had 2 or 3 very ill turns 
of late and have recruited again I am now 
mending & have been for several days 
past. Doc Tracy says he thinks I shall be 
about in a few days as well as Usual my 
Cough and fever seem to abate I am fee- 
ble but hope when the weather is setled 
and warm to gain strength by riding more 
frequently I desire I may be patient and 
submissive whatever may be the event of 



70 QTlje ignntin]9t0n Cetters. 

Providence concerning me. dont be anx- 
ious about me our Children are kind and 
attintive as they can be and I try to divest 
myself of all worldly cares as much as pos- 
sible, the account of M^s Backus's Death 
is truly affecting M^ Backus by his let- 
ter seems overwhelmed with grief I 
heartily pity him his proposals about his 
Children upon more mature consideration 
I believe he will not approve of himself I 
have not mentioned to M^^ Dr. Comprez 
or any one else any thing of the matter 
but I think she has her hands full to man- 
age her own Children M"^ W°^ Morgan 
Boarded the Gager Boys and I have heard 
they were used very kindly and were very 
loath to go from M^ Morgans when Mr 
Witter took them to board at his house if I 
had 2 little ones to put out to board and 
Nurse I should be as willing to trust M^^ 
Morgan as any one I am acquainted with 
I make no doubt but she would undertake 
it as reasonably as any one in this place 



but I am not able or disposed to Meddle 
in the Matter and cant take care of my 
own family I can only hint at the many 
things I would say if I was able 

I am your Anne Huntington 

Benjn Huntington Esq^ 



72 ®I)e §nntingt0tt £etter0. 



XX. 

New York June so^f'- lySg 

M^s Huntington 

I Rec^ no letter from you or any of the 
Family by Capt Niles by which I Conclude 
nothing Extraordinary had happened I 
am in hourly Expectation of Culver who I 
hope will bring good News that you are 
in better Health & that the Family are 
Comfortable I have nothing worthy of 
Notice to mention at Present The Papers 
will Inform what has been doing this Week 
in Congress* we are giving Every thing 
into the Hands of the President which 
we are not fit to manage ourselves Per- 
haps we shall find this will lead us to a 

* The first Congress under the Federal Constitution 
met at New York, March 4, 1789. 



^[)e ^nntitiQlon £etters. 73 

Greater length than we at first Conceited 
I hope but dont believe we are acting- 
wisely in Giving Power to the President* 
to turn out the Great Officers of the 
United States at Pleasure without giving 
any Reason for it we are told that he 
is under a Sufficient Check by being Re- 
sponsible for his Conduct I wish to know 
how much Restraint he will be under by 
his Responsibility when he has an Army 
at Command and all the Officers both 
Civil & Military a Set of his own Crea- 
tures Dependent on him for a Subsistence 
in their Places, and with a Disposition to 
Support himself in Place by force as will 
be the Case in the first Instance where a 
President is Ambitious and finds himself 
under a Probability of Failing of a Re- 
Election, but why should I Trouble you 



* Here the Hon. Benjamin Huntington foreshadows the 
dangers and difficulties arising from the extraordinary ap- 
pointing powers of the President. He apprehends the 
growth of the spoils system. 



74 Si:i)e ignntington £etters. 

with Politics I wish I was not Troubled 
with them myself I 

I shall write you again by Culver and 
am at Present with Sincear Affection your 
Benj Huntington 

Mrs a Huntington 



®I)e §nntin9t0n betters. 75 



XXI. 

New York July tyth xySg 

Mrs Huntington 

I Rec<* your letter of the 7*^ Instant 
by Capt Culver and am happy to hear 
you are gaining Strength and hope you 
will be favourable to yourself I am fully 
Persuaded that your not Writing to me 
by the Packetts was no fault in you but 
it was a greater Disappointment to me 
that no body from the Family would In- 
forme me What your State of Health was 
than any disinterested Person would be 
apt to Imagine I conceited you was 
growing more 111 and that no body would 
Informe me of it lest it Should give me 
trouble & Perhaps bring me home when 
my Presence would be of no Service 



76 ©Ije ignnlington Cetter©. 

I cannot Say when I shall come home 
there is talk of adjourning in September 
which I hope will be the case and if it 
Should be so I am in Hopes you will be 
well Enough to go with me to New 
Havin and make a Visit over to North 
Stratford a Week or two in October whilst 
the Assembly sits for I Suppose I must 
be there if I Come home before the As- 
sembly Rises which will almost Destroy 
my whole happiness in coming home un- 
less you can go with me & I hope you 
will be able to Ride such a Journey in a 
Carriage and that it will advance your 
Health 

It is very unexpected to be Obliged to 
be in this Place Six Months without Re- 
ceiving a farthing Compensation for Time 
or Service but I hope all will be right at 
last and that I shall not have Occasion 
to Repent coming 

I am in good Health and can Buckle 
my Shoes with less Trouble than I have 



Srije ^nntington £etters. 77 

for Some years Pass^ haveing" in a great 
measure got Rid of the Gout & Some of 
my bulk tho. but little of the latter nor am 
I Cured of the former nor do I Expect I 
ever shall — 

Capt Bela Turner has been in this Place 
and to Philadelphia about three or four 
Weeks Pass^^ with a letter of Credit Signed 
by one Choat who is not known to any 
body here and the Merchants have not 
thought proper to trust him goods on the 
Credit of it I beared last Evening he had 
a turn of the Fever and Ague but have 
not seen him today he tells me his Daugh- 
ter Anne has married a very good Man 
that has a good Farm and is in a way to 
gain a good Subsistence — I wish he him- 
self was a ditto — he wanted me to Write 
on the back of his Letter of Credit that it 
was a good & Legal one, and proposed to 
pay me in goods for the old Chaise if he 
Succeeded in getting the Goods It would 
have been a very fine way of Collecting a 



78 @:i)e flnntington fetters. 

Debt of £\2 ... o ... o in Goods, for me 
to Subject myself to the Payment of as 
much as he Should Please to take on the 
Credit of a Letter Subscribed or Indorsed 
by me It would have been not material 
to the Merchant here whether M' Choat 
was to be found or not if I had Indorsed it 
and was able to pay the money but, to do 
him Justice, after I had Declined writing 
my opinion on the Bill as to its Validity 
he said he did not Desire I Should do any 
more than write my opinion as a lawyer 
than the Doubts of the Merchants might 
by that means be removed as to the Legal- 
lity of its form This I Declined as I was 
no lawyer in New Hampshire and had no 
Right to give an Opinion as to its Oppera- 
tion in that State — he Desired me to git 
Judge Livermore's Opinion on the Sub- 
ject. And to Oblige him, I went to M"* Liv- 
ermore with the Letter of Credit he said 
that if he had wrote Such a Letter himself 
it would be good, but would not give his 



8:i)e fltrntinglon Cetters. 79 

opinion in Writing, for the Same Reason 
on which I Declined ; Thus I have told 
you a long Story which I don^ Desire to 
told again & have wrote this in Stead of 
talk and Suppose you don<^ desire to hear 
any Thing about Politics & The Papers 
will tell you the News and what Fine Din- 
ners were Consumed by the Cincinnati* 
on the 4th of July a Time in which if their 
own Accounts of themselves may be Cred- 
ited, they behaved themselves very well — 
Give my love (for to my Sorrow I have 
nothing Else which I Dare Send) to the 
Children & Family 

From your Benj Huntington 

* The Society of the Cincinnati, established by officers 
of the army at the close of the Revolution in 1783. 



8o tl)^ f timingt0n Cetters. 



xxri. 

New York August 4*^ i^Sg 

Dear Son 

Yours of the 27th of July has been 
Rec^ and the Contents Observed I hope 
we are in a good way and that my Debts 
will all be paid within a few Months The 
Duty Acts are now begining to opperate 
& I hope to Receive some Pay for my 
Service but what it will be is not yet 
known There is so much Talk in the 
Country about the Report of the Com- 
mittee for Six Dollars P Day * that I Ex- 
pect it will not be more than five, what- 

* The Salaries Bill, passed at this session, stipulated 
$25,000 for the President, $5,000 for the Vice-President, 
$6 a day for members of the Senate and the House» and 
$12 for the Speaker. 



Q:i)e UnntittBton betters. 8i 

ever it is must be Accepted with Patience 
but People ought to Consider that we give 
up all Business and all Prospects besides 
the Service of the United States and in Case 
they do not sit more than two or three 
Months in a year as is Expected will be 
the Case our Sacrifices at home by leaving 
all other Business will be poorly Compen- 
sated for ; Especially Professional Men 
who will be wholly Defeated in their Prac- 
tice at home by being gone in the best 
Part of the Year for their Business as 
Lawyers &c I have been a Slave to the 
Public these 24 Years Pass^ and Should 
now have been perfectly Poor, if I had 
not used the utmost Economy in my house 
and if I am worth anything it is not the 
Public Bounty as I have no Reason to 
Doubt but a Steady Practice in the Law 
would have been much more for my In- 
terest than the Business I have Done 

I hope to be at home in about six 
Weeks but cannot Probably be Allowed 



82 @:i)e f ttntingt0n tctUrs, 

my full Pay at Congress by that Time 
but it will be good Pay at Some Time or 
other & then I hope to put the Shops in 
better Business than at Present — 1 have 
Rec^ a Line from Harry who says he is 
going to Vermont to Prevent any Mis- 
chief in Selling our Lands in that State 
who seem to have adopted a System of 
Knavery about Taxes but hope to Escape 
the Effects of their Villainy — I hope you 
and all the Family will pay the utmost 
Attention to your Mamma's Health & think 
that if She gits health at this Time and 
in September She may be Expected to 
Recover I Doubt not but that you all 
Consider that if you Should loose her you 
never can have the loss Repaired 
I am &c 

Benj Huntington 

M^ GuRDON Huntington 



©Ije ^nntington fetters. 83 



XXIII. 

Norwich Feby S^h jjgo 

Dear Sir 

The Last letter I rec^ from you was 
dated 31* Janx by which I am inform^ you 
are recovering Slowly from your disorder 
I was in hopes you had perfectly recov- 
er^ but as you justly observe Patience 
and Resignation to Providence is our duty 
I have been taking the Bark prepared in 
a different manner from what I have ever 
taken it and I have gained Strength my 
fever is not so high as it has been but I 
have at this time a Chill coming on which 
makes my hand tremble so that I can write 
but very poorly the last Letter I wrote 
3^ou I never expected to write another I 
had been raising matter that appear^ the 



84 QLl)s^ f ttutington £eUers. 

same as that which comes from a boil and 
was very low and faint I am of the same 
mind I was then as to what my disorder is 
but how long this feble thread of life is to 
be extended and for what purpose God 
only knows I am as happy as I can be 
with my infirmities in your absence our 
Family are all well except me. I want to 
write a very long- letter but am not able 
I am with Sincere Affection & respect 
your 

Anne Huntington 

Benjn Huntington Esq^ 



®l)c ^nntin^ton Cetters. 85 



XXIV. 

New York Fei/y 28th lygo 

Dear M^s Huntington 

By a letter from Hary & two others 
from Gurdon & George * by the last Post 
I have heared from you that you are much 
in the same 111 State of health as for a 
month pass^ which is not Surprizing but I 
hope your Case is not Desperate but be 

* Third child, George, " was the first of the Huntington 
family who moved into central New York. He first settled 
in Whitestown, in 1792, then the most important of all the 
New England settlements in that vicinity. He had little 
or no property, but opened a store as agent for Mr. Hyde, 
of New London. In the succeeding year he removed to 
Fort Stanwix, near Rome, and by the assistance of his elder 
brother, Henry, established himself in business." . . . The 
business connection of Henry and George Huntington, under 
the firm of George Huntington & Co., continued until his 
death in 1842. He was known as ** the patriarch of the 
village." — Huntington Memoir^p. 134. 



86 Q:i)e fltxntittjgton Cetters. 

that as it will, I know it is my duty to 
Trust you in the hands of a faithful Crea- 
tor who will take us all out of this world 
when he Pleaseth. 1 hope your confidence 
in the great Redeemer of Mankind will be 
well grounded and unshaken — I cannot 
say when I shall come home but Hope to 
See you in May or June and that you will 
before that Recover your Health 

My own health is nearly the Same as 
when I mentioned to you that I was Slow- 
ly Recovering I attend Congress every 
Day where there are good Fires but can- 
not attend Meeting on Sundays being so 
much Troubled with the Rheumatism that 
I cannot Endure Sitting in the Cold but 
hope to get the better of it in a Short 
Time — 

I am deprived of a great Satisfaction 
which I Should take (were it possible) to 
see you and spend the Time in admistring 
some Degree of comfort to you in your 
Sickness but we must be contented with 



®l)e Huntington £etterfl. 87 

the Allotments of Providence to whose 
divine Protection you are most heartily 
Recommended by 

Your Affectionate 

Benj Huntington 

Mrs Anne Huntington 



88 Q:i)e Huntington tnuts. 



XXV. 

New York March 6^^ lyqo 

Dear M^s Huntington 

By a line from Harry by last Post I 
was very happy to hear you had been more 
comfortable than usual I hope you are 
really in better health than when I left 
home I have sent you half a Dozen of 
best Madeira by Capt Parker and would 
have you send for more if needed or for 
anything I can Procure for your health or 
Comfort I hope you are mistaken in your 
Conclusion that you shall not Recover. 
M'"^ Harding tells me her Sister Rockwell 
was (once) Supposed to be in a fixed Con- 
sumption but Recovered ; it has been the 
Case with many others who have recov 
ered & I hope to see you ^3^**^ m Perfect 



3:i)e Huntington fetters. S9 

Our lives are but Short at the longest ; 
but to have useful Lives cut off before they 
are arrived to the Age of Man is a most af- 
flicting loss to friends and to the Public ; 
the tender Thread is so easily broken that 
none of us even in the Meridian of life and 
vigor of health can presume with Safety 
on an hour's Continuance in this World 
we ought to wait with Patience our ap- 
pointed Time and be ready at the Call of 
heaven to leave these Tabernacles of Clay 
which must be shaken off at some Time or 
other it's not best for us to know when, 
nor is it our Duty to be Gloomy at the 
Thoughts of Mortality a Christian life may 
be Cheerful and I think ought to be so ; 
we ought to spend this life in Praising the 
Deity which is by no means a Melancholly 
Employment. 

To leave you in a Declining State as I 

Supposed I did when I parted with you 

— s to me a most painful Circumstance I 

'oated the heaviest bereavement I 



\ 



90 ®l)c igttntington Cetters. 

could Conceive of among humane losses. 
I am now much Encouraged concerning 
your Recovery & hope on my Return to 
find you able to Ride out for your health 
and to have as many happy Days in carry- 
ing you abroad as I have had 

My love to the Children & Family 
I am your Affectionate 

Benj Huntington 

Mrs Anne Huntington 



jt 



QL\)t §nntin%ton ILctters. 91 



XXVI. 

New York March 14^^^ lygo 

Dear M^s Huntington 

I Rec^i no letter by the last Post from 
any of our Family but by a letter from the 
Gov'' * and another from Col Leffingwell 
I was informed that you Remained in much 
the Same State of health as when I left 
home which I think is not by any means 
discouraging — I am however exceedingly 
concerned for you but hope to see you in 
better health on my Return but cannot 
Say when that will be but Expect it will 
be in May or June — I am in better health 
than when I left home, am obliged to be 
very careful of myself and not expose 

* Samuel Huntington. 



92 Srije igtintington Cetters. 

(myself) to the Cold or wet We have no 
(News of) Importance — I hope & trust you 
will be enabled to endure with a becoming 
Patience the Distresses of your Infirmity & 
that all the Divine Dispensations towards 
you may be so Improved as to promote 
your happiness both temporal & Eternal — 
I am very unhappy in being Separated 
from you at a time when you Stand in 
greater need of my Services aid & Sup- 
port than ever before — My love to the 
Children 

I am most Affectionately 

Your Benj Huntington 

Mrs Anne Huntington 



QL[\c jguntington tenets. 93 



XXVII. 

New York April gth lygo 

Dear M^s Huntington 

By M'' Emmerson of N London I send 
you another Scrawl without News for we 
have none our August House is going on 
Steady Steady and as Slow as Steady In 
hopes of Rising at Some Time or other 
I had a letter from Harry by Capt Parker 
in which he says you are in the same 
State of health as for Some Time pass^ I 
w^as in hopes of your gaining health and 
Strength and am anxious Still to hear that 
is the Case — cannot the Doctors Contrive 
Something that will restore the Coats 
and Juices of your Stomach to a proper 
temper that your Food might become 
more nourishing I think that such a Step 



94 ®l)e iguntiuQton betters. 

would put jou in a Way to gain Flesh 
and with it you might Expect Health to 
be Restored Would you like any Porter 
or wine or any Thing which I can send 
from this Place which you fancy would 
be Palatable I beleive such things as 
agree with your appetite will be most 
Nourishing and Probably tend to correct 
the Disorders of the Stomach and Re- 
plinish the Body with wholsome Juices — 
But I am writing of things I know noth- 
ing of but from my own Reason upon 
the Subject Pray let me know if you 
have a Desire for any thing I can Send 
and it Shall be Sent I have money and can 
Send what you want and have no thoughts 
of witholding any of the Comforts or Con- 
veniences which you Desire — When I 
begin to Write to you I know not how to 
leave off I have no other way of talking to 
you and so take the liberty of talking too 
much as I fear — 

Pray let Harry know I have Rec^ his 



QTlie f nntington betters. 95 

Letter with the Inclosed final settlement 
Certify and sold it at 'jl6 for the Principal 
and 6/ for the Interest and am to have the 
Money in Time to Send home by Capt 
Parker by whom I Shall send it with his 
other Money which I have Rec^ 
I am you Affectionate 

Benj Huntington 

Mrs Huntington 



96 ^[)c f utttinigton betters. 



XXVIII. 

New York May 2$^^ ijgo 

Dear M^s Huntington 

Your kind letter of the 19^^ with the 
Post Script of the 22^ Instant was this Day 
Rec^ at the hand of Capt Perkins which 
with the unfavourable News I have by the 
Norwich People concerning your health is 
Affecting indeed ; but don't let this trouble 
you I have Pleasure Even in the Pangs 
of Sorrow when felt for the beloved Ob- 
ject of my Esteem and Affection — 

Pardon (my dear) these Emanations of 
an Anxious heart and let your Confidence 
be in him who was dead and is alive & 
lives forevermore — The dreary road of 
Man to Bliss is through this Vale of tears 

The Time will come when the King of 



@^l)e j^untington Cettera. 97 

Terrors shall loose his frightful Form and 
his deadly Sting Shall hurt no more Then 
shall we have Beauty for Ashes and the 
Oyl of Joy for the spirit of heaviness — All 
the Days of our appointed Time will we 
wait, till our change comes — If you Should 
go before I am sure to follow when I have 
accomplished as an Hireling my Day — 
Man Cometh forth like a Flower & is cut 
down he fleeth like a Shaddow and con- 
tinueth not — May the Lord be your 
Strength upon the bed of languishing and 
when fiesh & heart shall fail may God be 
the Strength of your heart and your Por- 
tion forever and though we are Sorrowful 
now yet may our Sorrow be turned into 
Joy — When the great Redeemer was 
Scourged by wicked men and Suffered on 
Mount-Calvery the Chatisement of our 
Peace was then upon him & by his Stripes 
we are healed, to this only Source of our 
Salvation can we look for that Peace 
which the world cannot give nor take 



pS @:i)e f itntington tcttcxQ. 

away. May God Almighty grant you all 
Joy and Peace in Beleiving 

We have lived many Years in great 
Harmony and I hope & Trust not without 
that love which is beyond the Power of 
Death to Extinguish — I have the most 
grateful Satisfaction in your Love towards 
me at all Times, that it has been with that 
ardent Affection which has its Foundation 
in the purest Principles of Conjugal Friend- 
ship and Fidelity improved by the Pre- 
cepts taught us by our great Lord and 
Master ; But I most sincearly lament my 
own Defects of Duty towards you and 
have in the whole Course of our Connec- 
tion been mortified that 1 had it not in 
my Power to Render your Life more 
happy — A kind Providence has been Suf- 
ficiently Bountiful and we have abundant 
Reason of Thankfulness — Accept {7nj/ dear) 
of my tender and most hearty acknowl- 
edgement of all your kindnesses and to our 
Children who have (for aught I know) 



®t)e jgnntington tctUxG. 99 

grown up in Virtuous Habits under your 
Parental Assiduity of Care and Govern- 
ment 

I hope and expect to See you in the 
course of a few Weeks and in the mean 
Time must commit you to the kind Pro- 
tection of the Father of Spirits 

I should come home Immediately to 
See you for a few Days if for the best, but 
cannot Sustain the Idea of another Parting 

I am your most Affectionate Sincear 
and faithful Friend & Consort 

Benj Huntington 

P S May 29th 1790 

I Approve of your doings with the 
Shawls & Callicoes &c and am glad you 
concluded to Make you a loose Gown of 
Part of the Callicoes I have purchased 
and Sent by Erastus Perkins a Pair of 
Shoes which are as near as I could guess 
of a Size to lit your foot and hope they 
will be easy to your feet if they are too 



®l)e f ttntin9t0n betters. 



Small, Send for a larger Pair and I can 
Send them in a few Days — 

I have purchased a Barrel of Flour and 
a Piece of Course Linin which I Suppose 
will be nearly what you wanted I think 
it good & it Cost i/iii £ Money P Yard 
I also have Sent you a Coffee Mill which 
Gurdon can fix up on Some Studd or Post 
in the Garret 

I Shall not think it Strange if you dont 
write often to me nor would I have you 
make any Exertions of that kind I cannot 
Desire it — 

Your Affectionate 

B Huntington 
Mrs Huntington 



®l)e ^nntingtan Cetters. 



XXIX. 

New York June 26^^ [■^S^] 1790 

Dear M^s Huntington 

By Capt Perkins I Rec^^ no letter but 
M^ Thomas Lathrop & his wife & M^s Han- 
nah Huntington came with him and In- 
form that they have lately seen you riding 
out by which I conclude you are in no 
worse health than when I heared from you 
last— 

I was mentioning your Case to a Lady 
of the Name of Bedlow who said She had 
a Julep which was a most Powerful thing 
for present Relief in the Chollic and was 
kind Enough to furnish me with a Recipe 
by which I have got the Articles put up 
and Sent it to you fitted to take a Dose is 
a table Spoon full at once I have Sent 



^l)e guntinst0n fetters. 



ome the Recipe and wish it may be kept 
Safe and that you would let D^ Tracy See 
it and take his advice before taking any 
lest there might be Some of the Articles it 
contains improper for you I have a bad 
opinion of Quackery and would not have 
the medicine used without advice It was 
used by a Very famous Physician for M^s 
Be[d]low in a very difficult Case and gave 
her Immediate Relief and She has used 
the Same for the Chollic more than thirty 
years and it always has the same Effect — 
I am in hopes of Coming home in two 
or three Weeks or in the Month of July 
but cannot Say when — I in comfortable 
health but a little Troubled with the Bil- 
lions disorder but hope to git quite Rid 
of it when I come home and Relax from 
Health and as happy as I Can be at so 
Great a Distance from my most Agreeable 
Connections — The Inclosed Paper Con- 
tains the News of the Day M^ Chapman 
brings this and Can Informe you whether 



®l)e f untington £cuers. lo 

I Appear to be as Fat as Ever — I Confess 
I Pitty the Horse that Brings home the 
heavy Load ! 

The Speculators Exhibit Long Faces on the 
Arrival of two or three Ships from Europe 
Laden with Dry Goods which has put at 
least a Temporary Stop to their Sale of 
Goods at Extortionnous Prices — The Man 
who Deals Justly Loves Mercy & Walks 
Humbly is of all Flesh the Most unsuitable 
Person to Manage a Trade in the Present 
Times — I am told a Law has Passed in 
Connecticut Exempting Such Persons as 
Refuse to Purchase British Goods for a 
Certain Time, from Part of their Taxes I 
wish you to Look at that Law & take the 
Benefit of it if Possible, but Dont Subject 
yourself to any Inconveniences for a Trifle 
or if a Compliance with that Law should 
Involve you in any Thing low or out of 
Character I wish you to have no Con- 
cern with it — 

My Duty to my Mother and Love to 



04 QLl)c Huntington fLctUts. 

the Children Each one in Particular I 
wish Gurdon would Write Line or two 
as well as he Can and Send by M' Brown 
— The Boys here Dont write like him 

My Regards to Capt Abel M^^ Wet- 
more &c — 

This From your Benj Huntington 



QL[)z jgnntiitgton Cetters. 



XXX. 

Anne Huntington died at Norwich, October 6, 
1790. Benjamin now writes to his daughter, Rachel, 
not quite twelve years of age. 

Philada Fedj' 4th j^gi 

My dear Daughter 

Your Letter of 28^^ of Jany was this 
Day Received P Post It is very pleasing 
to receive letters from my children by 
them I learn the condition the family is 
in, and if they are well and comfortable it 
adds cause of thankfulness of heart to the 
great preserver of men, or if unwell or 
under any calamity my attention to their 
Remedy is excited and may often be im- 
proved to advantage, the great distance of 
this Place from my home makes me more 



^[)c Huntington £ettcrs. 



ixious to hear from you and less able to 
fford the assistance you may need, but 
the time is not very distant when I shall 
return & I hope be happy in finding the 
Dear objects of my care and fondest 
wishes in health and Increasing in knowl- 
edge and usefulness, I hope my dear child 
you don't forget to pay due Attention to 
those precepts of Religion & Virtue which 
your dear mama so often inculcated on 
your young & tender mind, may her in- 
structions never be forgotten, and may 
those earnest prayers and Supplications 
which she put up to the throne of grace 
for you and for all of us, ever remain there 
as precious memorials in our behalf. The 
loss of earthly Parents and Friends is 
heavy & very distressing, but it is all in 
the Course of Nature and must be ex- 
pected, but when we consider that these 
Afflictions are administered by the hand of 
that God who is our best and everlasting 
friend and Parent we may take comfort 



Qll)c ^untiuigton Cetters. 107 



from it & be Satisfied that his dispensa- 
tions are meant for our good and that the 
Judge of all the earth cannot but do right 
let us not despise his chastenings nor for- 
get our duty towards him — Give my :ove 
to all the Family & tell them I am getting 
better daily & have almost Recovered my 
voice — 

I am perfectly willing M^ Jabez Tracy 
should Marry M''s M^ Bride if they are 
both so in love as to be in the Fidgets 
unless they marry. This Subject may be 
thought too Ludicrous to follow the Seri- 
ous matter next above but Marriage is of 
divine Institution and in that View is a 
Serious Concern it is Serious in every 
view and ought never to take Place but 
when the Affections of the Parties are so 
deeply rooted and firmly fixed as to be 
able to overlook and forgive a Multitude 
of disagreeables which wall arise in the 
Course of humane affairs and be very 
afflicting unless the Parties are determined 



io8 g:i)e Huntington fetters. 

to live in Peace in Spite of all the disturb- 
ers of domestic happiness 

I am my dear child with the tenderest 
concern your affectionate Parent 

Benj Huntington 

Miss Rachel Huntington. 



QTIjc ijttntingtott Cetters. ^09 



XXXI. 

George Huntington has moved to Whitestown, in 
the State of New York. 

Whites Town June lo, lygs 

Hon Sir 

Your esteemed fav of 5 Ult^ is received 
p M' Chesebrough, by the News Paper I 
discover that the party against Gov Wol- 
cott have failed in their undertaking, this 
pleased me because I suppose it is the 
same Junto that opposed your election last 
year, I hope by this time the Freemen dis- 
cover their unfair intreague so as not to 
be influenced by them I wish to hear how 
the votes run for the Nomination of Repre- 
sentative to Congress and for Assistants & 
wheathr M^ L — d was Nominated by a 
larger number than you, I think he has 



no @;i)e §nniin%ton Cotters. 

made so little noise in Congress his 
Friends must again lift hard to support 
him the next election — 

have • now been Twelve weeks from 
> vvich & M^ Hyde has not arived. I 
e .ect him dayly but with no more reason 
than I did seven weeks ago. I was here 
three weeks without doing any business 
then I opened Goods and am selling with 
tolerable incouragement I have estab- 
lished a good character for the shop & 
perhaps have done as well as if Hyde had 
been here — I want nothing but the com- 
pany of my near Friends to make me very 
contented in this country, within a few 
rods where I live there are Two Attor- 
neys. Two Doctors who Drugists & a 
merchant, all very respectable well edu- 
cated young Men these added to a Num- 
ber respectable Farmers make a very good 
society, besides almost every day there 
are Gentlemen from N York, Albany, or 
N England traveling into this Country & 



®l)e guntinigton genets. m 



to the Genesee, all make a stanc lere 
man}^ stay Two or three days to R uit, 
this affords a variety in our compan -.nd 
gives us the News and will make , a 
Place of consequence — since my last I ve 
obtained the Census of Whites Town,in 
Septemb'" 1790 there were 1840 Inhabitants 
May 91. 3875. May 92. 5743 many who 
have moved into this country the last year 
have settled without the limits of the dis- 
trict where the census is taken, this de- 
ceived Judge White who told me there 
would be 8000 inhabitants this year — the 
increase is now very rapid in the district 
where there was one Cap^ Compay of sol- 
diers 3 years ago there is now Two Regi- 
ments of eight large companys each, the 
soldiers are all Young active Men fit for 
duty, this makes us sufficiently strong to 
defend us from the Indians was they dis- 
posed to Quarrel — 

I am in good health my Friends tell me 
I grow fat fast am anxious to hear from 



112 QL\;)c §nntin%ton Cetters. 



Noi ch every Opportunity. Please to 
giv ly love to all Brothers & Sisters I 
ha'< eceived no letters from them except 
on '^oni Lucy — I am with the strongest 
Fi 1 Affection & Respect your 

Son Geo Huntington 



Benjamin Huntington Esq^ 



SECOND PERIOD. 

1796-1798. 



CONTAINING MAINLY THE LETTERS WRITTEN BY 
RACHEL HUNTINGTON TO HER SISTERS, LUCY 
AND ANNE (NANCY). 



113 



SECOND PERIOD 

1 796-1 798. 



I. 

Rachel Huntington, seventeen years of age, pays a 
visit to her brother, Henry, in New York, and writes to 
her sisters, Lucy and Anne, in Norwich. 

New York November igi^ lygb 

My Dear Sisters 

this is the first time I have had leasure 
to write to you, since I parted from you 
at Norwich, perhaps by this time, a little 
narrative of my adventures, will not be 
ungratefull to you. — About thre hours 
after Cousin Alice & I left you, we ar- 
rived at New London; we went immedi- 
ately to M^" Laws, made a good visit, & 
about four o clock P M embarked for N 
York, which we reached in 1 5 hours ; we 
went directly to Brother Henry's, & Alice, 
"5 



n6 Qri)e i^i^ntington Cotters. 

finding on enquiry that M^ W Fitch's 
family were at Stamford & M^ Watsons, 
about setting out for Bethlehem, concluded 
to take up her abode with me while we 
stay in town — Monday & Tuesday we 
went a shopping all about town, Wensday 
morning went to M'^ Watsons, & in the 
evening to the Theatre, where the tragedy 
of the Earl of Essex, (founded on the story 
of Queen Elizabeth, & the Earl of Essex,) 
or the unhappy favorite, & the Padlock 
a musical entertainment were performed 
with considerable applause — I confess to 
you, I was not so delighted with the play, 
as I expected to be, but there are very few 
plays, that have nothing disgusting in 
them — I spent Thursday at Mr W Wolsey's 
with M''^ John Davenport, her daughter 
Mary Davenport, Cousin Alice, & Miss 
Patty D wight, a niece of M^^ Wolsey's, 
from North Hampton — last night we were 
again at the Theatre, & were entertained 
with the Comedy of the young quaker, & 



@:i)e Huntington £etters. ny 

my Grandmother, a whimsical, well per- 
formed, farce, — I believe you will think 
dissipation has got fast hold of me, but 
do not be troubled, I will shake it off 
whenever it is necessary — 

I have bought a camels hair shawl for 
Lucy, & some lace, which I shall send by 
Culver, I shall buy some knitting nedles 
for Nancy, & also a brown beaver hat if I 
can find one that I think would suit her ; I 
have been to M^ Tiffin's for one, & he 
has none but sattin beavers, which are ex- 
travagantly dear & in my opinion not so 
good as the other kind — I will enquire 
further & if I cant find a brown hat to suit 
my fancy, shall buy a green one, like one I 
purchased for myself — 

I think it is probale Miss Cogswell [and] 
I shall go to Stamford about the middle of 
next week, but cannot certainly tell — I'd 
like to have forgot to tell you that Doctor 
Brown has been here, & brought me a 
letter from Benjamin, & I wrote by him to 



ii8 ®l)e ^guntingt0n fetters. 

Ben — He desired me to give his compli- 
ments to leather & Nancy, he says he 
thinks it very probable, brother George & 
Lady visit Norwich this winter, so I told 
him Lucy would return with them, if they 
should, — O sisters ! if I could see you but 
for one hour, what pleasure it would give 
me — 

I am engaged to spend the day at M^ 
Cotton's tomorrow, it is quite late & I 
must rise early — Give my duty to Father, 
love to brother & sister, & their children 
& believe me most affectionately your 

sister 

Rachel Huntington 

Misses L & A Huntington 



Ql[\c iQuntington £euet3. 119 



II. 



New York December gt^i i^gd 

My Dear sisters 

by M' Carew I have just time to write 
you a few lines to inform you where I am, 
& that I shall stay a fortnight longer in 
New York, you must not be surprised if 
your sister should spend the winter at 
Bachelors Hall, at present I certainly have 
no expectations of it, nor, on my arrival 
here, did I intend to stay any longer than 
a week. Last night there was the most 
dreadfull fire that has been known for a 
great many years, forty, or fifty houses & 
stores were burnt, & a great many poor 
families, turn'd out of doors ; at present 
nobody, is able to make any estimate of the 
losses, they must certainly be very great — 



I20 ^[)c funtington Cutters. 

It was about one o clock, when the cry of 
fire was heard, our family rose immediate- 
ly, the gentlemen ran to the fire, & M^^ 
Duncan, Miss Cogswell & myself to the 
too of the house, from whence we had a 
fiiil view of the City which was perfectly 
illuminated, the tops of the houses being 
covered with snow gave a fine appearance 
to the scene — I can hardly concieve a more 
beautifully sublime object there are thre 
or four poeple talking in the room where I 
am writing which may serve as an apology 
for the inacuracy of this letter — You cant 
tell how much I was disappointed at not 
receiving any letters by Charles Carew, 
you must not disappint me so any more if 
you should I am determined it shall not 
lessen the number of my beautifull litterary 
productions — Cousin Carew promised to call 
for this at ten o clock, it is now past ten, 
& as he does not appear I believe I may as 
well write on — Last monday afternoon as 
Alice & myself were out a shopping we 



Qi[)c funtington Cetters. 321 

happened to meet Miss Betsey Rogers & 
cousins, Eliza & Betsey Davenport Miss 
Rogers ivited us to call & take tea with 
her, & we accepted her invitation & in the 
evening had a most agreeable little ball 
Miss Rogers was the musician a harpsi- 
chord the instrument — I have bought a 
black beaver hat for Nancy & shall sent it 
by Niles, it is a very pretty one my letter 
is calld for. adieu your most affectionate 

sister 

R Huntington. 



Qli)c Huntington jLetters. 



III. 



Rachel Huntington is on a visit at the house of 
Major John Davenport, of Stamford. 

Stamford January jd lygy 

My Dear Sisters 

M'' Thomas has just calld here for letters 
to carry to you. I wrote two or thre 
days ago a letter which I have given him 
& am now seated in Major Davenports 
Office, scribbling again — M^ Thomas tells 
me he heard Brother George & Lady, had 
set out for Norwich, & that Col Colebirth 
told it him in N York — I wish it were pos- 
sible for me to be present to partake in the 
pleasure such a visit must give you, but as 
it is not, I must content myself without it, 
wish you a full enjoyment of it, & please 
myself with idea that you are happy — 



SCIie ^nntin%ton tenets. 123 

Present my congratulations to Miss Char- 
lotte Tracy, & tell her I remember the 
agreement of the "6th of July 1796' — 
The news concerning M'^ Eels & Miss R 
gives me pleasure tho it does not sur- 
prise me. 

You wish to know whether I saw our 
Cousin Wetmores, I saw Victory, & Rob- 
ert, at the Play House, the former came 
to our box & had quite a long conversa- 
tion with me, he informed me Prosper & 
his family were at Stratford, & that all our 
friends there were well, but not a look 
could I get from Bob, 'tho he sat directly 
opposite me, & I stared him full in the 
face severall times-— There is a fine body 
of snow on the ground, & we are quite 
apprehensive of Company from New York, 
a party of our friends having engaged to 
visit us the first sleighing, when we are to 
have a Ball I say we are '' apprehensive " 
of thier coming before Alice's & my own 
trunk arrive as we have but very few 



124 ®I)^ igtxntington fetters. 

cl oaths here, & those not very Tippy — We 
have sr>ent this day at Mag Davenports, it 
grow? ate enough for us to think of tak- 
ing our departure, & I believe it behoveth 
me vo finish my letter, I shall keep letters 
written, by me, for future, & send them 
every opportunity if you will do the same, 
you will much oblige & gratify your ever 

affectionate Sister 

R Huntington 

Misses L & A Huntington 



Qi\)c Huntington fetters. 125 



IV. 

New Haven /any 6t^ ijgy 

Dear Son 

Your Letter of the first Instant was 
handed to me after the Mail for New Lon- 
don was gone which Prevented me from 
an Immedeate answer but as soon as I 
could I wrote to Lucy by a M^ Allyn of 
this Place who was to go & I suppose is 
gone this Day for N London but lest the 
letter by him should fail I now think it 
best to put this into the Post Office for 
the Next Mail I am most heartily sorry 
not to See you and your Wife before your 
Return but must Consider it as an un- 
avoidable Misfortune I w^rote Lucy My 
Consent that She shall go with you tho, 
she has A Right to do as she Pleases as 



126 @:t)e Huntington £ettcr0. 



she is of Age to act for herself your kind 
offer to supply her with Necessary Ac- 
commodations for the Journey is very 
obliging I am unhappy in not having it 
in my Power to furnish her with Cash and 
other Articles sufficient for the Journey 
and Support for so long a Time but what 
you advance for her you must Charge to 
my Account as I dont desire you to Sus- 
tain the Cost without my assistance it 
will be a tedious Journey for you to Come 
from Hartford to New Haven for no Pur- 
pose but to see me whene I cannot spend 
but little Time with my friends I am in 
hopes of Coming to See you at Fort Stan- 
wix in May or June Next if well enough to 
Endure the Journey I am at Present in 
usual health excepting a Visit of the Rehu- 
matism in my left leg which came upon 
me before I left home and yet Continues 
painful but hope it will leave me soon I 
have not heard of Rachel Since I came 
here but hope Major Davenport will bring 



^[)c Huntington fetters. 127 

her to meet me at Fairfield my Confine- 
ment in the Court for so great a Part of 
my time is very tedious but I must attend 
that business to obtain a Subsistence in my 
Declining Age which will soon be pass^ & 
gone — Give my kind love to Benjamin & 
tell him I hope he will be contented to 
Remain with you untill of Age and that 
he may have the good fortune to go into 
Business as his Brothers have all done 
without loss of Time I was obliged to 
spend much Time and money in fitting 
myself for Business after of Age having 
been left an Orphan at five years of age ^ 
& Destitue of friends who had Abilities 
or Inclination to put me forward since 
which time I have been a Slave to the 
Publick and have at last nothing to Expect 
as a Reward but to be Despised in old 
Age I have Indeed been highly favoured 

* Benjamin, St., was born April 19, 1736, and his father, 
Daniel, died September 13, 1741. His mother married 
again, November 30, 1742. 



128 Sri)e igtintin3t0n Cetters. 

by Divine Providence in being Enabled to 
afford a Decent Education to my Children 
and I hope I have Property Enough to 
prevent my being Burthensom to them 
in old age 

If Gurdon has Collected the Note I left 
in his Hands against Gen^ Williams I hope 
Nancy can Spare a Part of it for Lucy's 
Expences on her Journey but must at this 
Distance leave the Concern of it to your 
Descretion 

I have already Wrote too much because 
I know not how to Stop 

My Affectionate Regards to your wife 
& to Gurdon & his wife & Nancy 
I am &c 

Benj Huntington 

M^ George Huntington 



S:i)e gnntington fetters. 129 



This letter is undated. It seems to have been 
written from Stamford, and to fit in to this period. 

My friends here treat me very politely, 
& appear glad to se me, & my time passes 
very agreably, & I hope not unprofitably — 
Mrs Stiles is here on a visit, & expects to 
spend the winter, I treat her with due cir- 
cumspection & shall endeavour to keep in 
her good graces — I believe the society 
here is nearly the same as when you visited 
Stamford, we have no beaux unless thre or 
four students, at M'^ Smith's, may be calld 
so ; two of them M^ Sands, & M^ Marlot, a 
frenchman, have spent an evening with us 
& appear to be smart young gentlemen — 
Alice & myself have become quite enlight- 
ened in the science of Phisiognomy, & find 



I30 ®l]e Huntington Cetters. 

no difficulty in cutting- profiles of persons 
two or thre weeks after seeing them — we 
have got quite a collection, of miniature 
profiles, of some persons which we saw in 
New York, it is not an unpleasing amuse- 
ment, to cut them where the features of 
the persons are striking — 

Cousin Eiza [Eliza] desired me to apolo- 
gise to you, for her not writing to you, 
she said she believed several letters had 
been written to her from you, which she 
never recieved she said she felt rather 
awkward about writing to you at present, 
as the last letter she recieved from you 
was almost torn to pieces — I found one 
letter from you directed to her, dated Feb- 
ruary 1795 I read it, & as the contents were 
rather out of date for the present time, 
commited it to the flames. 

Eliza bade me tell you she had the 
promise of going to Rome with you — she 
says if you write to her again she shall cer- 
tainly be a good girl & answer your letters 



9ll)e Huntington fetters. 131 

— she is quite a Belle in New York, & if 
she is not made a vain quoquet, before 
spring, may with propriety be pronounced 
a person of an an uncommonly strong un- 
derstanding, she is very beautifull, & if she 
is proof against flattery will make an exe- 
lent woman — 

I suppose Father is now on the circuit, 
& intend to write to him very soon — I in- 
tended this only as a cover to the enclosed, 
but believe I shall fill it up— Give my love 
to Brother & sister, & my Nephew & 
nieces^ tell Edward I hope to see him very 
much improved in his reading, when 1 
return home — Give suitable regards to all 
my acquaintance who enquire after me in 
a friendly manner & tell them, think of 
them, & love them just as well as I used to 
do Adieu 

your gratefuU & affectionate 

R Huntington 
Misses L & A H. 



132 ®l)e f untin9t0n fetters. 



VI. 



Lucy Huntington goes on a visit to her brother 
George, in Rome, N. Y., and Rachel addresses her 
letter to Anne, in Norwich. 

Stamford January 2gt^'- lygy 

My dear sister, 

I have written several letters to you 
within the last fortnight, & for want of 
some private opportunity to send them, 
have destroy'd them, but if no other con- 
veyance offers soon I shall send this by 
the mail. I have got a little picture, 
pocket handkerchief for Edward, & an- 
other for Susan, which I think will please 
& instruct them, & if a good opportunity 
presents, shall send them with this. Well 
sister how do you like solitude? should 



QL\)c ^nntin^tan £etter0. 133 

you be sorry, or glad, to see Rachel ? or 
are you rather indifferent about it ? Your 
letter to Cousin Alice, made me feel quite 
consequencialy I assure you, when you 
mention'd, I must expect to be summond 
home soon, let me request that it may not 
be too soon — I last week recieved a letter 
from sister Lucy, she was then a few miles 
beyond New Canaan, & had dined with 
the M^s Whitings & I suppose brother & 
his party arrived at Fort Stanwix in safety, 
or I should have heard of it before this 
time — Lucy mentioned that Cousin Re- 
becca Huntington promised to spend some 
time with you, & I think, with her. Miss 
Miner & Cousins Betsey & Polly Perkins, 
to each of them make you a visit, you may 
consent to my staying till May, when I 
calculate to return home by the way of 
New York — Last week I went to Fairfield 
with Major Davenport & Lady & Cousins 
Alice & Alfred, in a sliegh — Our Cousin 
Burr appeared glad to see me, & I was 



134 ^^c ^nntin9t0n tctUxs. 

quite pleased with her, she appears to be 
a good friendly woman, of very plain man- 
ners & I think bears some resemblance to 
our deceaced Mother I was extremely 
grieved to find Father so ver}^ lame as he 
was, 'tho he told me he was getting better, 
& thought his unusual lameness came in 
consequence of a bad cold, which he caught 
in the extreme cold weather in the begin- 
ing of this month — Father said that before 
he left home, you almost repented letting 
me make a visit at Stamford before you. 
If it were possible I would willingly fore- 
go the pleasure I shall recieve in my visit, 
& take your place at the old mansion in 
Norwich & let you finish my visit at Stam- 
ford — but as it is impossible, cutting short 
my visit can do no good — but if you will 
consent to my making a good long visit, I 
promise you that I will be a good girl & 
stay at home, steady as any quaker lass. 
M'^ Watson & Cousins Eliza & Betsey 
Davenport came up from New York last 



@:i)e ^untinjgton £euers. 135 

Monday, & Tuesday evening, after Alice 
& I, returned from Fairfield we had a 

very agreable little Ball. M^s W & 

Cousin Eliza went away on Thursday, 
the former to Hartford & the latter to 
N York Cousin Betsey is still with her 
Stamford friends & will stay 'till the next 
sleighing, when M^^ Watson is to return 
from Hartford & take her with her to 
New York 

Cousin Betsey is in the Chamber writ- 
ing with me, & every minute there comes 
a mandate for us to appear below stairs, it 
seems there is a little, coxcomical French- 
man there, who keeps enquiring for " de 
Ladies." he came here one evening & 
staid 'till allmost midnight, notwithstand- 
ing, repeated hints were given that it was 
time for him to depart, & then he asked 
**a thousand pardons " for going so early, 
when he went away — but I must stop writ- 
ing Cousin Betsey sends you — 
here's another message — good night to 



136 ®l)c ^nntington Cettcrs. 

you — I fear it will be long before I have 

the pleasure of saying so to Monsieur — 

your truly affectionate sister, 

Rachel Huntington 

Miss Anne Huntington 



Qri)e Huntington Cetters. 137 



VII. 

Stamford day after fast lygj 

My dear sister, the enclosed was written 
several days ago, & the careless postmaster 
neglected to send it to Norwich, but I am 
determined to send it by the next stage 
with the addition of another sheet, & I 
hope you will be glad to see it — This after- 
noon the stage stop'd at the Stage house 
opposite here & Gen^ E Huntington & 
M'^ Zach Huntington were the first per- 
sons who met my eyes, & I felt as much 
delighted as I should at home at the sight 
of old acquaintance General H calld to 
see Major Davenport, & was very polite 
to me, he told me all the Norwich news 
he could think of, & wish'd he could tell 
me better news about my father, but he was 
very lame, though much better than he had 



13S QL[)c ^untittigton ^Letters. 

been. M^ H says that he believes his 

niece is very soon to be married to M^ 
Mumford, & more dependance may be 
placed on that, than on the New York 
tattles, therefore I wish you not to mention 
what 1 have written concerning him in my 
other letter, to any one — Oh dear, I can- 
not help continually thinking of papa's leg, 
do Nancy let me know how it is whether 
you think it will get well as the weather 
grows warm, & if he still keeps up his 
spirits, if he does not, remember my sister, 
that it is doubly necessary for you to be 
cheerfull, I wish I could be contributing 
to his comfort, with you, but circum- 
stanced as I am, it seems best for me to 
finish my visit as I have proposed, am I 
acting right, or not ? I must stop writing 
'till tomorrow — Sunday I have been to 
Church this day & heard M'^ Burnet, (who 
was at our house last Summer) preach, he 
dined here, & enquired after father, was 
very sociable & agreable in conversation, 



®l)e Huntington Ccttcrs. 139 

but no great orator. M^" & M^s Smith & 
thier family are going to Sharon next 
week & soon after thier return M^ Smith 
is going to Windham, & has promised to 
call on me at Norwich about the second 
tuesday in June. I wish you could be ac- 
quainted him & his Lady, they are really a 
very worthy pair, I was thinking Lucy 
was to see my letter, when I began to 
write about them, but no matter — I am very 
glad to hear M^"^ Uriah Tracy has so fine 
a son, the family are undoubtedly much 
pleased with it, M^ Huntington informd 
me that all the mischief of M'^ T's Barn 
& out houses' being burnt was plotted by 
a little boy, who had confess'd the fact, it 
is to be hoped his confession, may stay the 
hands of worse incendiaries, For some 
time I was almost afraid to hear from 
Norwich, for fear the news would be that 
Brother Gurdons shops were burnt, but I 
hope the danger is now over — How does 
M^ Hyde like Capt Burnham's attention 



I40 ®l)e f untington £etters. 

to Sally? don't you think the Whites- 
town man would be quite as agreable ? 
How does M^'s E Tracy, & her sisters do ? 
I suppose it is allmost time for Miss 
Debby, to return from Boston — when you 
see them I will thank you to give my love 
to them — Indeed Nancy, I wish very often 
that my visits were over & myself fairly 
fixed down in the old mansion, again, prac- 
ticing the industry & Philosophy which I 
have been planning since I left home — I 
hope they will not both forsake me when 
they are put to the test, & make me sing 
the old tune " how much easier it is to 
theorize, than practice '* — I hope Papa will 
send me some money, by the mail, — Re- 
member me affectionately to all friends, 
particularly to brothers children & let me 
know if Edward is a good Boy, I suppose 
Susan has forgotten me — 

your affectionate sister 

R Huntington 
Miss Anne H 



QTlje Huntington iLetters» 141 



VIII. 

Stamford April 12^^ lygj 

My dear Anne, 

A day or two, previous to the reciept 
of your letter of March 19*^ in which you 
desire me to prepare for my journey home- 
ward as soon as I conveniently can, I dis- 
patched a letter to you, in which (if re- 
member right) I told you Brother Henry 
was married, & was to carry M^^ Hunting- 
ton to New York in May — Major Daven- 
port was at New York last week & brother 
told him that he should go to Shelter Is- 
land the first week in may, & return as 
soon as possible to New York with M« H. 
he did not write to me, but sent word that 
he would in a few days. My friends here 
advise me to stay & visit my new sister, & 



14^ Cf)e ftttttington tetters. 

I need not tell you how much I wish to, 
for you can easily immagine it) it will 
probably be a long time before another op- 
portunity as good as the present, will offer, 
M^ & M^ Davenport will be going to New 
York the second week in may^ (&, it was 
told me, with an injunction not to let any 
one know it hereabo^its, Cousin Alice is to go 
with them,) I have concluded to wait & go 
with them, if I do not hear from you, that 
it is necessary for me to come home imme- 
diately. O Nancy, I wish it were possible 
for me to get at a little of yours, or Lucy's 
wholesome advise, (the last word is spelt 
wrong, but no matter) I assure you it 
would very often be gratefull to me — I 
believe you have really had a great many 
trials for your patience within a few 
months, (the consolatory visit of our dear 
Crank cousin s cannot be a very small one) 
That of not recieving your new hat must, 
I believe, be laid to my charge, for I ought 
not to have depended on its being sent on 



^l)e ^ttntington betters. 143 

board the vessel without my particular 
care — Cheer up your spirits my sister, & 
remember it will be your turn to go 
abroad next, & leave me at home to pay 
for gadding ail last winter. When I saw 
Papa at Fairfield, he offer'd to give me ten 
dollars, which, as I did not then need it, I 
declined accepting, he however bade me 
write for it in the spring if I should want 
it, I will thank you to tell him that I 
should be very glad of it now, if he can 
spare it; if not, I cajt do without it — I re- 
cieved a letter from Benjamin a few days 
since in which he writes, that Lucy Is very 
much pleased with her visit at Rome, & 
talks of returning home in April or May, 
but I suspect we shall not see much of her 
before September, I am pleased that you 
have finished reading Humes England, & 
am determined to bring you some pleasing 
novel for a desert, but cannot promise that 
it will be Cammilla, as I have heard it con- 
demn'd by some persons, on whose judge- 



144 2^l)e ^nntinqton £euers. 

ment, I should put a good deal of depend- 
ance, as being far inferior to Miss Burneys 
other writings. M^s Radcliffe's " Castles of 
Athlin & Dunbaine " is advertised in the 
New York papers, & as there is only one 
volume the expence of it will not be much 
— I intend buying it, & I think you will be 
pleased with it if you like such things as 
well as you used to — The Mysteries of 
Udolpho, have been so much caressed, 
(poor things), that they have not had suf- 
ficient liesure to keep thier cloaths in re- 
pair, a continual round of dissipation & 
visiting has preyed upon thi&v feeble frameSy 
& they have grown old in the days of their 
youth — Brother bought some books at 
auction when I was in New York & would 
have given a very good novel, entitled 
*' Caleb Williams ", to me, but on examin- 
ing them, he found all the volumes were 
alike, he gave me the " Ghost seir or Ap- 
paritionist, which some person who has 
read it, has justly defined with a pencil at 



®l)e ijuntingtan Cetters. 145 

the end of it, " A very miraculous nothing 
at all." 

You write that perhaps M"^ B M Mumford 
will be company for me on my (way to) 
Norwich — but I begin to have serious 
doubts (whether) the match between him 
&. Miss Huntington ever takes place, his 
behaviour is certainly very odd if that 
match is still in contemplation, there is a 
Miss Sedgwick in New York to whom he 
pays very particular attention ; & (to use 
the expression of Miss Rogers, Cousin 
Elizas correspondent) " he is out shopping 
with her evry morning & at the play, or 
visiting with her, every evening," very 
fine things, he has said also of Cousin 
Eliza, which it would not be worth my 
while to repeat, even if I had more paper 
such conduct is rather uncommon for a 
mortgaged man but perhaps Vanity may be 
the cause of it all. Have you heard any 
whisperings concerning it in Norwich? if 
you have'nt pray keep what I have written 



146 Ql[)c f untington Cetters. 

to yourself, for I should be mortified to be 

the propagator of such a stor^ M^ M 

is a great favorite with the Ladies, & per- 
haps he may be for quoquetting, & Miss 
S rings louder than any belle in New- 
York. With duty to Father & love to all 
friends, I am 

my dear sister, yours, 

R Huntington 

Seeing I have begun to write the tattles, 
& my letter can't go till next mail, I may 
as well finish — I believe that Miss Eliza 

D Miss Sedgwick & a Miss Gordon, 

have been rathther greatest belles in New 
York last winter, (Eliza & Miss Gordon 
were both guests to Miss Rogers) for some 
time M'" Mumfords attention seemed to be 
paid equally to those three Ladies, Eliza 
came away in her glory, Miss G went soon 
after, (to Balls town) but not before Miss 
Sedgwick had begun to out ring her — since 
that time Eliza has recieved several letters 



®l)e Huntington Cetters. 147 

from Betsey Rogers, in each of which, she 
says something about Mumford's particu- 
lar attention to Miss S Cousin Bet- 
sey Davenport is very intimate with Miss 
Sedgwick & writes to me, that she has not 
calld on her friend this some time with- 
out meeting M^ M Miss R "can- 
not think he has any thoughts of courting 
that Norzvich Lady'' — M^ Bell, (a second 
Elisha Tracy) says " Miss Sedgwick has 
made twenty victim's," & himself & M^ 
Mumford must be ranked among the first 
of them — thus my sister I have given you 
some of the tattles of New York — I hope 
in compassion to me you will burn this 
page as soon as you have read it, least, a 
bird of the air should carry the sound — 

Probably this will very soon be handed 
to you by one of the " Sacerdotal order," 
if it is, do give him one for me in return. 

R H 



148 ^\)c f tintington Cetters. 



IX. 

New York May i^th lygy Monday P M 

My dear Anne. 

Christopher Leffingwell call'd here a 
few minutes ago for letters to carry to 
you, & as M^s Duncan had heard me once 
express a wish that he might not call very 
soon, she pretended I was not at home, & 
he has promised to call in half an hour, 2$ 
minutes of that time will be devoted to 
writing to you ^perhaps I may indeed be 
out before he comes — Brother Henry has 
gone to Shelter Island & is expected back 
on Saturday next, Brother George will 
stay 'till he return & would if possible go 
to Norwich. He is very anxious to visit 
Papa, & if he was not detained in New York 
by Henrys business I make no doubt but 



©l)^ Quntington Cetters. 149 

he would — Our House is all in confusion, 
sriibbers painters & white washers, are all 
uniting thier skill to make the house look 
as well as possible when M^^ p^ ar- 
rives, who I am told by all her acquaint- 
ance, is a pattern of nicety — I have spent 
but one afternoon from home since I came 
to New York & yet have been very busy. 
I am now engaged in making a gown for 
myself which (I regoice to tell you) Fash- 
ion, (that tyraness) will permit to swing 
above the dirty puddles & filthy cinque & 
drains — I have a multiplicity of commis- 
sions to execute for Lucy & Hannah, I 
have been out shopping a great deal with 
brother George, & whenever I go with 
him I bid him remember his wife & sister, 
& they may thank me for many handsome 
things which he has got for them — Benja- 
min Mumford moved from here several 
days ago, but as he has no housekeeper, 
he comes here when he is hungry, I have 
had his deserted chamber clean'd out for 



150 ©he i3untin9t0n tctuxs, 

my drawing- room & have enacted that no 
Gentleman shall presume to spit in it." 
Brother Henry desired me to make all 
necessary revolutions in the house, & 
many will undoubtedly be made, but it 
will not cease to be a kind of Bachelors 
Hall 'till the mistress of the house arrives 

Miss Sedgwick (the high sounding belle) 
has been gone out of town a fortnight, & I 
think Ben begins to look a little sober, he 
has been quite unwell for a day or two 
but has now in his usual health he has in- 
deed play'd the coquette at a high rate for 

five or six months — I wish Betsey H 

would come to New York & set up for a 
belle, (it would be amply in her power) & 
just pay him in his own coin for his jilting 
her — but I have reason to believe he has 
the bag here is M*" Leffingwell Give my 
love to all friends & believe me your affec- 
tionate sister 

Rachel Huntington 

Miss Anne 



®l)e Huntington iLetters. 151 



In this letter Rachel describes to her sister Lucy 
the fashions prevailing in New York in 1797. A part 
of this letter has already been published on pages 16 
and 17 of " Old Houses of the Antient Town of Nor- 
wich," by Mary E. Perkins. 

New York 3 fay 28^^ lygy 

My dear sister 

The enclosed pacquet was intended to 
be sent by General Floyd, but he went 
away before it was given to him — I have 
forgot what I wrote in it, but shall send it 
along & perhaps there may be something 
entertaining in it — Lucy I believe most of 
the comissions from you & sister Hannah 
have been attended to by Brother George 
or myself — I have bought two bands 
which are the most fashionable trimings 
for beaver hats, a white one for the blue 



152 @^l)e flnntington Cettets. 

hat, & a yellow one for the black one, they 
should be put twice around the crown & 
fastned forward in the form of a beau knot. 
Brother has got each of you a pink silk 
shawl which are very fashionable also — 
Many Ladies wear them for turbans, made 
in the manner that you used to make mus- 
lin ones last summer, George has given 
me one like them, The fine lace cost lo 
shillings a yard, & I think it is very hand- 
some, there is enough for two handker- 
chiefs & two double tuckers, the way to 
make handkerchief's is to set lace, or a 
ruffle on a strait piece of muslin, (only 
pieced on the back to make it set to your 
neck,) & put it on so as to show only the 
ruffle, & make it look as if it was set on 
the neck of your gown, many Ladies trim 
the neck of thier gowns with lace & go 
without handkerchiefs but I think it is a 
neater way to wear them — with fashion- 
able gowns it will not be necessary to have 
much more than half a yard in the width 



^\)t ^nntinqtan Cettets. 153 

of your tuckers — I send a doll,* by Brother 
George which I intended to have dressd 
in a neater manner but really could not 
find time — it however has rather a fashion- 
able appearance, the cap is made in a good 
form but you would make one much hand- 
somer than I could, the beau to Miss Dollys 
poultice neck cloth is rather large but the 
thickness is very moderate — I think a cap 
crown & turban would become you — I 
have got a braid of hair which cost four 
dollars it should be fastned up with a 
comb, (without platting) under your tur- 
ban if it has a crown & over it, if without 
a crown — Brother has got some very beau- 
tifull sattin muslin, & also some handsome 
" tartan plad " gingham for your gowns, 
there is a large pattern for two train 
gowns of the muslin, which should be 



* " It was customary at this time, in the larger cities, to 
exhibit the fashions on dolls imported for this purpose 
from Europe." — Old Houses of the Antient Town of Nor- 
wich^ p, j6. 



154 ®l)e ^nntingtan £eucts. 

made thre breadths wide two breadths to 
reach to the shoulder straps forward, & 
one breadth to be cut part of the way- 
down before, to go over the shoulder & 
part of it to be pleated on to the shoulder 
straps, meeting the back breadths, & some 
of it to go around the neck, like the doWs — 
the pleats should be made pretty small, & 
not stitched to the lining, but you should 
wear binders over your shoulders — an inch 
& a half should be the width of your bind- 
ers. (I must have done writing this pretty 
soon, the last sentence if you observe is 
quite poetical — but let me stick to my text 
Fashion) It is the fashion to have draw 
strings fastned on the corners of the 
shoulder straps by the sieves on the back, 
and have a tack large enough for them to 
run in, made to cross on the back, run 
under the arms an inch below the sieves & 
tie before — I should advise you to have 
your gingham one made in that way, with 
draw'd sieves for sister Hannah & I have 



®l)c jluntington Cetters. 155 

seen as large Ladies as you with them, & I 

think they would look very well for you 

Sieves should be made half a yard wide & 

not drawd less than seven or eight times, 

I think they look best to have two or 

three drawings close together & a plain 

spot alternately — Some of the ladies have 

thier sieves coverd with drawing tacks, & 

have thier elbows uncovered if you dont 

like short sieves, you should have long 

ones with short ones to come down allmost 

to your elbows, drawed four or five by the 

bottom — if yo want to walk with long 

gowns you must draw the train up thr'o 

one of the pocket holes, I have bought 

some callico for chints trimings for old 

gowns, if you have any that you wish to 

wear short they are very fashionable at 

present, & gowns that are trimed with 

them should be made only to touch the 

ground, there is enough of the dark stripe 

for one gown, & enough of the light for 

one there should be enough white left on 
II 



156 ^\)c j^ttntington Cettera. 

the dark stripe to turn down to prevent its 
ravelling. I gave 10 shillings for the cal- 
lico & have been laughed at for my ' fool- 
ish bargain ' but I am not convinced that 
it is foolish The William street mer- 
chants ask three shillings a yard for trim- 
ings like the wide stripe & two for the 
narrow — I guess you will like the narrow 
— the kid shoes are of the most fashion- 
able kind, & the others, of the best qual- 
ity Brother George keeps enquiring for 
my letter — & as I have fill'd up my paper 
ril leave the improvement for you to make 
With love to sister Hannah & Benjamin 
I am my dear sister yours, most affec- 
tionately 

R Huntington 

Miss Lucy Huntington 



®l)c jgitntington Cetters. 157 



XL 

New York June ^th jygy 

My dear Anne 

I intended instead of writing- to you to 
have seen you myself at the time in which 
you will recieve this letter — but our sister 
has been but a little while in New York, & 
M}^ Duncan is about moving so that she 
will be very much alone, (or what is as 
bad surrounded by men) if I go away — 
she is very urgent to have me stay longer, 
& so is brother — they bid me stay till next 
week, & ask you to set a time when I must 
come home — (Indeed I have particular 
reasons for wishing to be away from Nor- 
wich a fortnight from this time — but I will 
tell you when I see you — I am very much 
pleased with our new sister she is a plain 



158 QLi)c ^untinQton ^ctUxQ. 

woman, who will not enter into all the 
fashionable follies of the Town, but I be- 
lieve will make an excellent wife for 
Brother Henry, she is fond of retirement 
& is a pattern of neatness — you Nancy 
must make her a good visit when I am 
once more Jixed at Norwich — Brother 
George, & Betsey Davenport went from 
here last Sunday, & I suppose George is 
at home before this time, last wensday 
evening I went to the theatre for the first 
time since I have been in New York — • 
my beau was M^ Richards & the party in 
our box M' & M'^s Gurdon Mumford Ben. 
& William. Mumford, a M^^ Pomeroy, & 
M"" Bell the latter of whom, in manners, 
resembles Elisha Tracy you will see him 
if ever you come to New York — The play 
was the school for Scandal, which was ad- 
mirably performed, it is indeed a very 
excellent burlesque upon scandal — I have 
been out a visiting but very little in the 
mornings, & have drank tea out, only one 



6ri)e f untington £etters. 159 

evening- since I have been here — but 
am now deeply indebted to many Ladies 
who have done me the Honor to call on 
me — Sister Huntington is soon to have a 
great deal of company, & it will be in my 
power to assist her a good deal if I stay in 
New York a little longer 

I send by M'^ Thomas a silk shawl for 
Sister Gurdon it cost eleven shillings & six 
pence — it is small, but I could not get a 
larger one, as they are not fashionable & 
nobody has them to sell — I tried also to 
get one with a greater proportion of black 
in it — but could not get such an one as I 
wished to — Brother Henry has given me 
a dozen handsome silver tea spoons, but I 
believe I shall keep them till I go home 
myself, unless you wish me to send them 

I send a little printed handkerchief for 
Edward, & a large one which if you please 
you may give to James Latham 

You say perhaps I shall be " shocked at 
your old fashion'd appearance — no no sis- 



i6o 3:1)0 iguntitijgton Cotters. 

ter Anne, I am not so easily shocked — you 
will see your sister Rachel return home 
without much alteration in her appearance 
— A little time may be advantageously ap- 
propriated to fashion — but to pay too much 
attention to it, is in my opinion worse than 
to assume the dress of a quaker — I am glad 
Betsey Huntington bears Mumford's fickle- 
ness with so much spirit — it is surprising 
to me that the reports of his gallantries 
did not reach Norwich sooner — Here, it is 
not generally believ'd that he was ever 
engaged to Miss Huntington — M^ Bell 
was here the other day, & speaking of 
the '' charmifig " Miss Sedgwick, said that 
she had " laid prostrate half the gentlemen 
in town " — as for himself he was " leveled 
with the dtist, & had it in serious contem- 
plation to take a voyge to Italy to recover 
him of his malady — but " Mumford was 
undoubtedly the highly favored man " — 
Bell is a great news monger, & among 
other things he told me that Abby How- 



^\)t iguntington fetters. i6i 

land is courted by a M'^ George Muerson 
Woolsey, a respectable merchat in this 
Town. I cannot 'votic/i for the truth of the 
report — M^ Mumford does not certainly 
appear in quite so high spirits as he used 
to — whether in consequene of /aU events or 
not, I cannot determine, he has given up 
all thoughts of housekeeping & is going to 
a Boarding house to live — I hope you will 
destroy this letter as soon as you have 
read it, as so much scandal had better not 
be preserved — but I hear so much that it 
is difficult to refrain from writing some of 
it — It is time for me to dress for dinner, as 
we are going to have company — I must 
stop writing in three minutes. With duty 
to Father & love to Brother Gurdon's 
family ^ yourself \ am my dear Anne your 
affectionate sister 

Rachel Huntington 

Miss Anne Huntington 



i62 @:i)e jguntington Ccttcrs. 



XII. 

This letter is undated, but seems to have been 
written by Rachel Huntington on the eve of Her de- 
parture for Rome, N. Y., where she was to live at the 
home of her brother George. 

My Dear Sisters 

I arrived here in safety yesterday at 
sun set — I had the pleasure of spending" 
the evening with Miss J Watson, & Miss 
Hudson, sisters of Henry Hudson — who 
were on a visit to Miss Leffingwell — Doc- 
tor Cogswell calld with M^^ Colt, in five 
minutes after I got here — I am much 
pleased with her, she will be an excellent 
companion for me on the journey which 
we have undertaken the Doctor says he 
has thoughts of going to Norwich soon — 

Perhaps Fanny L will return with 

M*" Thomas to Norwich — if she does she 



®l)e f untington fetters. 163 

will stay part of her time with you — she is 
a charming girl, & I think M^ Leffingwell 
is a very worthy woman — Col Wadsworth 
has promised to send his sleigh & horses 
to help us on twenty or thirty miles, where 
we shall meet M'^ Colt's sleigh. I am 
afraid we shall have but little snow — I 
have had only a few minutes to write, but 
I know you had rather have this letter 
than none — I will finish with a little advise 
— Brighten up your countenances my sis- 
ters, & weep no more — I must stop writing 
— my love to Father & all friends 

Your sister R H 

Mrs G H & Misses L & A H— 



1 64 9n)e Huntington betters. 



XIII. 

Rome March i^ih ijgS 

My Dear Sisters, 

I arrived here yesterday, after a very 
fortunate passage from Albany & found 
our friends in good health — M^^ Tracy was 
so polite as to bring M}^ Colt & me in his 
sleigh from Whites town here as the snow 
was almost gone we have however had 
excellent sleighing three fourths of the 
way from Albany — Sister Hannah says 
She is glad I have come & has given me 
the room which leads from the parlour — I 
believe I shall feel very happy here — but I 
can hardly realize that I am to return no 
more to Norwich — Indeed it is difficult 
for me to speak of parting from you — Ben- 
jamin was at a ball last evening & has been 



^\)c Huntington fetters. 165 

very much engaged to day so that I have 
seen him but a few minutes — He seemed 
sorry that I was not here in season to 
attend the Ball but 'so was 7iot F Brother 
G has enquired at almost every place be- 
tween this & Hartford for Surinam beans & 
seed peas, but could no where get a suf- 
ficient quantity to plant. & he wishes you 
to send him as many of those articles as 
you can spare, if you have more than he 
wants M^s Qolt will be very glad of some, 
good lettice seed will be very acceptable, 
perhaps you may have an opportunity to 
send them by land, or if not we would 
thank you to send them to New York as 
soon as the river opens & we can send for 
them — Mrs Colt will be glad of some other 
kinds of garden seeds if you have them to 
spare — I hope you have ere now written 
to Cousin Eliza Davenport, if you have 
not I beg you will soon & make some 
apologies for my leaving Norwich at a 
time when I was expecting her & Betsey 



1 66 Qi\)c funtington betters. 

— I hope sister Nancy will go to New 
York as soon as possible perhaps Sister 
Caty will return with her to Norwich, but 
if Nancy stays but one fortnight it will be 
much better for her than not to go I hear 
there is a man going to Norwich in a few 
days — I shall then write to Edward — Ben- 
jamin wishes to write a few lines in my 
letter, but before he takes it I must request 
you to write to me very often as we shall 
feel anxious to hear from father — My love 
to all friends 

Your affectionate 

Rachel Huntington 

Miss Huntingtons 

Sister H desires love to you 

Dear Girls 

Brother returned last evening soon after 
I was gone to a ball (mentioned by Rachel) 
so that I had not the pleasure of seeing 
them till this morning I was fearful! least 



®l)e Huntington tctUxs, 167 

the sleighing would be so bad that Rachel 
could not conveniently come to Rome 
with brother George but it has fortu- 
nately prooved otherwise. I am not as 
yet determined how to spend the summer 
but have a number of schemes which I 
hope may turn out to advantage I shall 
take care to give you notice w^hen I have 
determined on any measures — You will 
percieve by this that I am in (what Rachel 
calls) a /ow key and can hardly keep open 
my eyes. 

I continue affectionately 
Your Brother 

Benj Huntington 

Miss Huntingtons 



It only remains to add a few details, before taking 
leave of the principal persons mentioned in these letters. 

Miss Wells desires me to mention the tradition that 
Tom Moore, when he was in New York, sought the 
hand of Rachel Huntington in marriage, and wrote 
her many letters and poems. These she is said to 
have destroyed before her marriage to Mr. Tracy. 



1 68 ^l)c f untinjgtou Cotters. 

LaFayette is said to have visited her in Whites- 
town in 1825. 

Many stories of the patriotism of Rachel's mother- 
in-law, Margaret (Grant) Tracy, have been handed 
down in the family. Not content with hanging the 
portraits of George Guelph and his wife upside down, 
she dug a ruby out of her engagement ring, sold it to 
the British, and gave the money to the American army. 
It is also recorded of her that she was very fond of tea, 
but being too patriotic to drink it openly in conse- 
quence of the agitation against the Stamp Act, she 
used a mahogany table, made with a drawer in which 
the cups could be hastily slipped when visitors arrived. 

Sister Anne, or Nancy, was a great beauty, opened 
many balls, and at the same time cultivated her mind 
by studying Blackstone and reading German. She 
never married, and died at Rome, N. Y., in 1842. 

Lucy married Dr. Matthew Brown, resided for a 
while at Rome, N. Y., and afterward at Rochester, 
N. Y. 

Among the grandchildren of the Hon. Benjamin 
Huntington, of Norwich, and his wife Anne, a word 
should be said about the noted portrait painter, Daniel, 
son of Benjamin, Jr. He was born October 14, 1816, and 
married at St. Ann's Church, Brooklyn, June 16, 1842, 
Sophia Richards. He is now living in New York. His 
life has been given to the cultivation of the fine arts, for 
which Nature designed him, and in which his success 
has been unquestioned. Especially has he acquired a 
continental reputation as a portrait painter. It may be 
interesting here to quote part of a review of his work. 



Q:i)e ^nntington Cetters. 169 

which appeared in the " Whig Review " as long ago 
as August, 1846, and is reproduced in the " Huntington 
Memoir " : " Huntington, to whom we are inclined to 
give the highest place among our artists of the highest 
school, sent five pictures, exclusive of three portraits, 
any one of which would have asserted his pre-emi- 
nence in this department of his art. . . . His female 
heads are remarkable for their graceful contour, their 
high foreheads, but broad, low, and classical brows, and 
for their perfectly feminine expression, which, as well 
as their freedom from that exaggeration of points of 
beauty, such as large eyes and small mouths, into 
which modern painters are apt to fall, gives them a 
truthful air which some of hot-bed taste mistake for 
materiality. . . . His heads of old men have equal 
excellence, and are full of character and vigorous draw- 
ing. . . . Huntington's pictures bear the stamp of 
high cultivation and of great genius. Not only are 
his conceptions beautiful, just, and of a high poetic 
order, and his designs clear, but his work is almost 
always well done. The tone of his pictures is such 
that the eye rests upon them with delight and content- 
ment ; the heart sympathizes with the sentiment ex- 
pressed, and the judgment approves almost without a 
but.'' Daniel Huntington is one of the founders of 
the Century Association in New York, and in 1861 
was elected President of the National Academy of De- 
sign as the third president, the first two having been 
Prof. Morse and A. B. Durand. 



MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS 
AND DOCUMENTS. 



12 



MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS 
AND DOCUMENTS. 



The following letter within a letter is perhaps the 
most curious in the whole collection. It purports to 
have been written by one Abigail Grant to her hus- 
band Azariah, but it exists only in the form of a copy, 
being part of another letter, which bears no address, 
and of which the signature has been torn, or cut off. 

The two letters together, in the same handwriting, 
are written on both sides of a single sheet, now yellow 
with age. 

As there is no direct indication either of the sender 
or receiver of the second letter, one could only guess 
at thei'- identity from the context, but the editor is 
constrained to admit that, after considerable research, 
he is unable to give a satisfactory solution to this 
riddle. Moreover, the date which heads the sheet, 
might be read either 1775 or 1776, though the latter 
seems the more likely. To cap the climax of uncer- 
tainty, however, Abigail Grant, according to the records, 
died twelve years before the battle of Bunker Hill, 
so that the first letter may possibly not be genuine 
at all. 

173 



174 ®l)e funtington jLetters. 



I. 

August ye igth A, D. 1776 [or 177s ^'\ 

Loving Husband after Love to I would 
inform you that we are well through Gods 
mercy upon us and through the Same 
Mercy I hope these Lines will find you 
well also I keep writing to you again & 
again & never can have only one Letter 
from you tho I hear by Cap^^ Wm Riley * 
news that makes me very Sorry for he 
Says you proved a Grand Coward when 
the fight was at Bunkers hill & in your Sur- 
prise he reports that you threw away your 
Cartridges So as to escape going into the 
Battle I am loath to believe it but yet I 
must unless you will write to me & inform 
me how it is, And if you are afraid pray 

* No Captain William Riley appears in the lists of 
Revolutionary soldiers of Connecticut. 



Sri)e Huntington ILettere. 175 

own the truth & come home & take care 
of our Children & I will be Glad to Come 
& take your place, & never will be Called 
a Coward, neither will I throw away one 
Cartridge but exert myself bravely in so 
good a Cause. So hopeing you will let 
me know how it is, & how you do. So bid- 
ding you farewell, wishing you the best 
of heavens Blessings & a Safe & manlike 
return, subscribing myself your Loveing 

wife untill Death 

Abigail Grant* 

(Dont Shew Grants Letter) 

The Above is a true Coppy of a Letter 
Sent to Azariah Grant by his wife. I was 

* In "Ancient Windsor, Connecticut," by Henry R. 
Stiles, vol. ii, p. 309, is to be found the following account 
of Azariah and Abigail Grant : 

"Azariah Grant, born at East Windsor about 1722; 
was appointed one of the administrators of his father's, 
Samuel Grant, estate. May, 1751, and called the eldest 
son in the distribution, 3 Dec, 1751. He married 6 July, 
1749, with Abigail Beman ; settled in the house which 
stood next north the late Major F. W. Grant's house ii) 



176 Qii)c f untington fetter©. 

so vastly pleased with the natural Simplec- 
ity of it & the Cutting Reflections I could 
not but Send it you. What must a man of 

East Windsor, where she died 26 (var. 19) Feb., 1763. 

He married with (2) Eunice , and she died 19 Feb., 

1784. He married 26 Oct., 1886 [sic], with (3) Mrs. Mary 
(Benton) White, b. 15 Sept., 1741, wid. of George White. 
He died at Windsor, 17 (var. 16) April, 1798, aged 76 
years. She died at Winsted, 3 Dec, 1800, aged 59 years." 

Azariah and Abigail had six children, of whom all did 
not grow to maturity. 

Azariah was great-great-grandson of that Matthew 
Grant, one of the original company, who came in 1630 to 
Dorchester. General Ulysses S. Grant was a descendant 
of this same Matthew. 

As for Azariah's v/ar record, the editor has gleaned the 
following facts : 

He enlisted May 9, 1775, in a Connecticut regiment 
raised on the first call for troops. His regiment, marching 
by companies to the camps around Boston, took post at 
Roxbury, and served during the siege until the expiration 
of its term of service in December, 1775. Detachments of 
officers and men were engaged at the battle of Bunker 
Hill, June 17th, and in Arnold's Quebec expedition. Aza- 
riah was discharged December loth. 

In November, 1776, the General Assembly, in view of 
approaching cold, directed the selectmen of each town to 
collect blankets to send to soldiers serving in the Conti- 
nental Army. On this occasion Captain Ebenezer Grant 
made out a list of towns, and the blankets were carefully 
apprized by Messrs, Nathaniel Strong and Azariah Grant. 



9ri)e ^^untinigton Cotters. 177 

any feelings undergo at the upbraidings of 
such, and so 7tear a friend Would you not 
rather be cut inch by inch to pieces? 
Would you undergo half so much in that 

In 1777 Azariah Grant joined the additional infantry 
raised in Connecticut for the Continental Army. He en- 
listed March 20th for the war, and his name appears on 
the military rolls at various times until December 31, 1781. 

On April 12, 1779, Azariah Grant was among the per- 
sons in East Windsor who took the oath of fidelity to the 
State of Connecticut. 

Finally, he is found among the Connecticut pensioners, 
residing in Vermont, who benefited by the pension laws, 
passed by Congress on March 18, 1818, for the survivors of 
the Revolutionary War, who had served for nine months or 
more in the Continental Army or Navy. 

Azariah Grant's military record is, therefore, on the 
surface a thoroughly good one. 

The Grant and Huntington families have been more 
than once united by marriage. Matthew Grant married a 
widow, Susanna Rockwell. Her second daughter, Ruth 
Rockwell, married Christopher Huntington, great-grand- 
father of Anne Huntington, wife of the Hon. Benjamin 
Huntington. A great-granddaughter of Christopher Hunt- 
ington, Martha Huntington, married Noah Grant, a great- 
grandson of Matthew. From this marriage came a second 
Noah Grant, a captain in the old French War. The third 
son of this captain, who also bore the name of Noah, re- 
sided in Coventry, Conn., and had a son named Jesse Root 
Grant, who was father of General Ulysses S. Grant. 



lyS ^i)e funtington £euers. 

way ? but he is Callous & does not feel it 
Laughs & makes a Jest of it as much as 
any of his Mates do. Tho he Owns & 
Swears it is Certainly his Wifes hand, She 
Certainly wrote it &c &c 

When I began Coppying it I thought 
not of adding, but it is a pity to Send 
much Clean paper out of Camp & So I 
will go on — What Came of my Letter to 
the Treasurer ? Did he give you no An- 
swer? My Men are Suffering, many of 
them, for want of the Money for Necessary 
Cloaths, Sauce, [?] which they are most 
unrighteously Obliged to buy themselves 
a great part of the time Since the new 
Continental Regulations took place &c &c 
Your Blanketts I cannot yet hear a Word 
of. — Pray how goes the Onions? If you 
can get any here they will fetch you 4^ pr 
Bunch — I hear you have had a Brush with 
Meddliters [?] (alias Mat Talcott) * because 

* Matthew Talcott, of Middletown, Conn., was lieuten- 
ant colonel of the Sixth Regiment at the outbreak of the 



^[}c iJiJ^tii^flton £ettcrs. 179 

they stopped 2 or three of your Vessells 
loaded with Onions* going Down the 
River Why do you not write me of Such 
kind of News? How goes on the Skeen 
Business of your being a To?y etc. etc. ? 
Pray give me a Little discription of Leon- 
ards House I believe it may Safely be 
worshipped for by all acc^s its neither the 
Likeness of anything in Heaven Above or 
in the Earth beneath or in the Waters 
under the Earth Sammy was over here 
yesterday at Cap^ Watermans f & Sent for 
me, but I was Tied fast on a Court Martial 

war. Was promoted colonel of the Twenty-third Regiment 
in May, 1775 ; commanded his regiment in the campaign 
around New York during the summer of 1776, and re- 
signed in the fall of that year. 

* The mention of onions suggests Wethersfield as the 
home of the person to whom this letter is addressed. 

f A John Waterman, of Norwich, was a quartermaster 
sergeant of the Third Regiment, General Putnam's, in 

1775. 

A Captain Abraham Waterman marched with part of 
the Twenty-fifth Regiment of the Connecticut militia in 
the alarm when the British shipping lay off New London, 
September 4, 1778. 



i8o Qrlje gnntington Cetters. 

& could not possible go till almost (2) (3) 
Clock & then he was gone. He is so Ele- 
vated with his promotion that he will not 
Condescend to come up the hill to Our en- 
campment — Never Mind we'll be in ... . 
.... him up yet 



®lie gnntington Cetters. i8i 



II. 



This copy of a document is in a woman's hand- 
writing, on modern white note paper. 

(copy.) 

In 1779, Col. William Browne, of Salem, 
in the Old Bay State, had a farm in Lynn, 
Conn., of twelve thousand four hundred & 
thirty-six acres, which had been leased for 
a term of years, with nine slaves — Benja- 
min Huntington, Esq. the administrator 
on confiscated estates, when making his 
return of the inventory of Mr. Browne's 
property, stated to the general assembly 
that there were " a number of slaves ap- 
prized, who beg for their liberty ; " & that 
the lessee of the farm would assent to their 



1 82 @:i)e jguntington fetters. 

being liberated, without requiring a dim- 
inution of his rent. Accompanying the 
inventory was the following petition, in 
the handwriting of Mr. Huntington: 

To the Hon. General Assembly of the 
State of Connecticut, now sitting in Hart- 
ford : 

The memorial of Great Prince, Little 
Prince, Luke, Caesar, & Prue & her three 
children, all friends to America, but slaves 
(lately belonging to Col. William Browne, 
now forfeited to this state,) humbly shew- 
eth, that their late master was a tory, & 
fled from his native country to his master, 
King George, where he now lives like a 
poor slave. 

That your memorialists, though they 
have flat noses, crooked shins, & other 
queerness of shape peculiar to Africans, 
are yet of the human race ; free born in 
our own country, taken from there by 
man-stealers, & sold in this country as 



QLl)c j^untinQtott £jeiter0. 183 

cattle in the market, without the least act 
of our own, forfeit liberty ; but we hope 
our good mistress, the free State of Cojinect- 
icut, engaged in a war with tyranny, will 
not sell good honest Whigs & friends of 
freedom & independence of America, as 
we are, to raise cash to support the war ; 
because the Whigs ought to hQ free^ & the 
tories should be sold. 

Therefore your memorialists pray your 
honors to consider their case, & grant 
them their freedom upon their getting 
security to indemnify the State from any 
expense for their support in case of want, 
or in some other way release them from 
slavery. 

And your poor negroes, as in duty 
bound, shall ever pray. 

Great Prince, 
Little Prince, 
Luke, &c. 
Dated at Lynn, 
Election Day, 1779. 



1 84 ^Ije iguntington £cUcrs. 

The Lower House granted but the Upper 
House negatived the prayer of the memorial. 
A Commitete of Conference was appoint- 
ed, but each House adhered to the original 
vote. 



®l)e ^ttutington Cetters. 185 



III. 

A letter ifrom Governor Huntington. 

Norwich April 24th- lygo 

Sir 

I have receiv^ your several letters of 
March 6*^ — 13th — & 20^^, besides several 
packets of newspapers under cover of your 
superscription. 

Your Son hath found Joseph Storys 
power of Attorney to you, together with 
my letter which first enclosed it to 
you 

I now send them both herewith en- 
close, & wish you may be able to obtain 
the whole demand due to Story both 
money & Clothing, it will do the poor 



1 86 OTlie i^untington Cettcra. 

Soldier a great kindness, & he asks no 
more than Simple Justice 
With sincere Esteem 
& Respect 
I am sir 

your humble Serv* 
Saml Huntington 

HoN^LE B. Huntington Esq» 



QL^^e §nntin%tan iLetters. 187 



IV. 

Newhaven Fedy it ijgi. 

Sir, 

Mr Eveleigh has presented me my ac- 
count from the Treasury books & indulges 
me only the present Sessions of Congress 
to procure him an authority for my dis- 
charge. 

I have heretofore attempted to interest 
you in this business & given you some in- 
formation of the difficulty attending it. 
The time is now become short & the case 
pressing — & as neither the State of my 
health or finances admit of my coming to 
Philadelphia to procure myself justice ; & 
as I know very well by experience that it 
is ruinous to a poor man's affairs to dance 
13 



1 88 ®i)e ^nntington £etters. 

attendance upon Congress for such pur- 
pose — I must repeat my Solicitations that 
you would endeavour to get justice done 
for me, or at least procure an Act to can- 
cel my Account at the Treasury. — 

I must now recapitulate the circum- 
stances which hitherto have obstructed the 
business : 

In the first place applications from time 
to time during my service in the pay- 
Office to have my Salary fixed were either 
ineffectual or prevented by more impor- 
tant affairs in Congress — even immediately 
prior to the disbanding the Army, Con- 
gress were in no disposition to do any- 
thing with me — (perhaps because a larger 
representation of the nature & difficulties 
of my Service was thought necessary to 
be made than any Member of Congress 
was willing to attend to.) 

On My discharge from the Army there- 
fore, the Paymaster General, who having 
had previous conversation with the Super- 



eilje i^untington betters. 189 

intendant of Finance upon the Subject, & 
being unwilling to Send me home without 
a penny, put into my hands a Sum of 
money, which, with what I had before re- 
ceived, he declared was within the allow- 
ance which the said Superintendant of 
Finance conceived I was intitled to — The 
opinion of a person who was had at that 
time in Such universal & supreme respect, 
as well as Authority in Some Similar mat- 
ters, was a kind of warrant to the Pay- 
master General, & I certainly never ex- 
pected afterwards but to receive a balance 
not to pay any — However in the winter 
following, when Congress were at Anapo- 
lis, upon a representation of my having re- 
tired from Service & a request by the pay- 
master General that my Salary might be 
fixed Congress immediately passed an 
Act without any enquiry which did not 
defray my necessary expenses. — The Pay- 
master General declared he never would 
Suffer the allowances made by that act 



igo ^\)c ^iintingt0n fetters. 

to be passed to my credit, & accordingly 
nothing hath ever been entered. Frequent 
Applications were afterwards made, both 
by the Paymaster General & myself — at 
length a Committee was obtained, who 
seemed disposed to consult entirely with 
the Paymaster General, I left all to him & 
them & came home — 

M^ Pierce drew out my account for the 
Committee agreeably to the ideas before 
settled upon between him & the Superin- 
tendant of Finance, & the Committee made 
report thereon which M^ Pierce informed 
me cast the balance in my favor — certainly 
this event gave great quiet to my mind, as 
I thought by it, my object was more than 
half obtained. — However the report hath 
never been called up, though I have en- 
gaged Members to attend to it, they in- 
formed me there had not been a fit oppor- 
tunity. But Colo Wadsworth told me not 
to fear, that Congress would certainly pass 
my account. I rested upon that, till lately 



^l)c iguntington £eUers. 191 

I have heard that the report & every thing- 
concerning it were lost. 1 now am in de- 
spair, for I have no more money to lose 
upon the affair, & cannot attend upon Con- 
gress be the event w^hat it will. I am in 
an extreme low state of health, & it is 
well known enough that I have not ten 
pounds to comjnand in the world. 

I Suppose that what I shall add to this 
Letter, if you can have patience to read it 
through, will be a Sufficient foundation for 
you to make a representation to the House 
by which if nothing can done for me, an 
unnecessary public prosecution may be 
prevented when nothing is to be obtained. 

The Articles of my Account drawn out 
for the Committee by the paymaster Gen- 
eral I presume were these — 

depreciation of pay as Adjutant of Ar- 
tillery, (Stevens's Corps not recognized by 
any State till after I left it) August 1777 to 
October 1778 at 50 Dollars per month & 
three rations per day — 



192 Q^l)e Huntington betters. 

Pay as Chief Assistant Paymaster Gen- 
eral at Camp from November i* 1779 to 
M^ Pierce's appointment to the office of 
Paymaster General, at Six hundred dol- 
lars a year & two rations a day — 

Salary as Deputy paymaster General 
from M^ Pierces promotion till the end of 
November 1783 at one Thousand Dollars 
a year & Six rations per day — 

Allowance for Forage for two horses 
when forage was not Supplied by the For- 
age Master — 

Ditto for two hired Servants from the 
time that the Commander in Chief forbid 
Officers not of the line to take servants 
from the line — 

Ditto for Stationary, fuel & Office rent 
(when not furnished by the Quarter Mas- 
ter)— 

Extra expenses of Journeys on public 
business. 

As I have not a Single paper respect- 
ing my transactions in the Pay Office 



^[)c Huntington betters. 193 

I can only as I have done state these 
matters generally — Every Letter & all my 
Vouchers & Documents & every paper of 
whatever kind of a public nature were left 
with the Paymaster General — they were 
necessary to him — to me I supposed they 
could be only a useless burden. For I 
supposed my Salary would be ineviata- 
bly fixed upon some just principles, as I 
expected to be a citizen of the independent 
States of America — 

As I never saw the Account drawn out 
by M'' Pierce for the Committee nor know 
not what it was, only I know it was in- 
tended to be as I have Stated — I know 
not what the report of the Committee was, 
what they allowed, or what they disal- 
lowed, only that I was informed it was 
Sufficient to cover me & more. 

These however are facts — that I served 
the period mentioned in Stevens Corps of 
Adjutant of Artillery & never had my de- 
preciation made up by any State for the 



194 QTl)^ Huntington betters. 

reason assigned — Also in the Pay Office 
as represented — two horses I kept while 
deputy paymaster General, part of the 
time at my own Charge, I cannot tell par- 
ticularly, — they were absolutely necessary, 
any one who knows the Service will be 
convinced of it on a moments reflexion — 
two Servants I hired at lo Dollars per 
Month each, from the time of the Com- 
mander in Chief's order, which forbid me 
& all other Officers not of the line to 
take Servants of the line— The order ex- 
ists & may be found — The order which 
forbid taking Servants from the line, did 
not prohibit servants to this description 
of Officers but the order itself directed 
such Officers to hire their own Servants. 
The two Servants were absolutely neces- 
sary to me, one as a Messenger & for 
other Services, the other as a Cook — It 
could not be expected that I should pay 
the whole Army Six times a Month, as I 
absolutely did, examine & keep accounts, 



Srije Huntington Cetters. 195 

without any clerk, which is also a fact, & 
] sides all this, run of errands & cook my 
c n victuals. The pay of the Servants 
\i .s less than the allowance to Soldiers, 
reckoning their clothing — Stationary, fuel 
& Office rent I frequently provided at my 
own charge ]- — Several journeys to Albany 
& Livingston's Manner after public Money 
at great expense — The amount of all which 
I cannot say particularly — 

With respect to my Salary as Assist- 
ant & Deputy Paymaster General — it was 
justly considered that a chief & confiden- 
tial assistant in the Pay Office with the 
trust of money was different from a com- 
mon Clerk in a common Office who writes 
Six hours a day & the rest of the time to 
pleasure, & the Six hundred dollars was 
but a moderate allowance. 

As Deputy Paymaster General the 
whole business was performed by me 
without any Clerk, & M' Morris directed 
the pay to be divided, so that I absolutely 



196 @:i)e ^ttntington Cetters. 

made Six different payments a month to 
the whole Army. The Service, Sir, & the 
care* 

* Thus incomplete. 



®l)e jguntington Cetters. 197 



V. 

OsTEND Austrian Flanders ib^^ May I'jgi 

The Hon Benj Huntington 

Sir— 
Presuming on your well known Be- 
nevolence & Candour, I've taken the Lib- 
erty to address you on a Subject which 
your Superior Judg^ & good Sense must 
Convince you is worthy your Attention I 
address you as a friend & Patriot to the 
Country who I have the Honor to belong 
to and Seeing the Laws of that Country 
Violated I think it my Duty as a Citizen 
to Seek Redress & Know of no Person to 
whom I may better apply to than a man of 



198 ^l)c jpuntington Cotters. 

your Exalted Station. I will briefly open 
the mater to you and point out Several 
instances where the Colours of the United 
States and the Commanders of such Col- 
ours have been treated with the Greatest 
Indignity One Instance Occurred 4*^ In- 
stant (viz) Capt Curtis Reed of the Ship 
Abigail of Boston felt severely the want 
of a Consul to Represent his Case to the 
Court of Brussells — Several of the Ship's 
Crew had left Capt Reed four or five days 
without leave and then applied for their 
Wages. By the laws of the United States 
their Goods of every kind with their whole 
wages were forfeited, of Course Capt Read 
Denied Paying their wages untill his ar- 
rival in America Agreeable to his Articles 
as the wages were not due untill that Time 
and further he could not answer it to his 
owners, on his denial his Sailors made 
application to the Grand Bailieu of this 
Town who Immediately sent two officers 
and arrested Capt Reed in the Open 



QTlje ^ttntingtcn iDetters. 199 

Street and took him to Prison like a Com- 
mon Vagrant where he was detained untill 
he gave Sufficient bonds for his appear- 
ance at Court 5*^ Instant Capt Reed ap- 
peared before the Magistrates and was 
ordered Immediately to pay the Wages of 
his Sailors at a time they were not due 
and to Discharge Such of his Sailors as 
were not Satisfied to go the Voyage within 
him & further & further to pay all Costs of 
arrests &c to the amount of £^2 — 10 — & 
this in open Violation to the laws of the 
United States of North America Ive now 
been two Years a Resident of this Town 
& never knew of an Instance of the Kind 
with the Ships of any other Nation there 
being Consuls of all Nations residing in 
this Town Except of America. Another 
Instance, Adam Babcock Esq^ Commander 
of the Ship Enterprize belonging to Bos- 
ton was treated in the Same manner and 
Remained in Prison two Days for not pay- 
ing the Wages of his Sailors that were not 



200 @:i)e jgnntington Cettere. 

due and was after Obliged by arbitrary 
power to pay and Discharge the whole 
Crew (which were American Subjects) 
which was very much to the Detriment 
of his Voyage, Capt Samuel Foster of the 
Ship Despatch of Boston was treated in 
the Same Manner Lodged in Prison and 
Obliged to Pay his People when their 
wages was not Due in open Violation to 
the Laws of the United States — Instances 
of this kind so Often Occurring and so 
much to the Disadvantage of the Trade of 
the united States and Derogatory to the 
Honor of a free and Independent Nation, I 
doubt not but you will take matter into 
your wise & Serious consideration and lay 
the same before that most august Body 
the Congress of the United States of 
North America and they beyond a Doubt 
will find Just Cause to appoint an Ameri- 
can Consul to Reside in the Town of 
Ostend in the Austrian Netherlands to 
prevent any further Abuses and Indigni- 



©he Huntington betters. 201 

ties Offered either to the Colours or 
Commanders of Ships belonging to the 
United States of North America 

Being a Resident of the Town of Ost- 
end and an American I take the further 
Liberty to Offer myself as a Candidate 
for the Office & Should that most august 
Body the Continental Congress think 
Proper to Confer on me that Honor I 
flatter myself I should so fill the Office 
as to Give them Intire Satisfaction — The 
earlier part of my life was Spent in a 
Counting house — My family are residents 
in the Town of Boston in New England 
& I Believe Sir my Father not wholly 
unknown to you — Dan^ Hubbard Esq 
Merchant of Boston, Should this Meet 
your approbation & You Should think 
Proper to do me the honor to answer 
this Letter if you Direct for me to the 
Care of Mess^'s Sharnock & C° Merchants 
Ostend it will come Safe to hand — Let- 
ters lodged in London to be put into the 



202 ®l)e ^ttntin9t0n £euers. 



Flanders Mail is the Most Direct & Safe 
Conveyance 

Interim I have the Honor to be your 
most Obedient humi Serv* 

Thqs. G. Hubbard 



®l)e ^itntinigton iLettcrs. 



VI. 

Norwich in Connecticut Nod^ first ifgi 

Sir 

I Rec^ the Inclosed Letter on the 3^ of 
August but as the President was on his 
Tour to the Southward I Supposed it 
needless to Convey it to you untill his 
Return to do Business at Philad^ when 
Congress would be together and the Gen- 
tlemen from Massachusetts might be En- 
quired of Concerning the Character to 
M^ Hubbard he is of a Good Family in 
Boston but I have no Acquaintance with 
him I find on Inquiry that he is a Young 
Gentleman of a Sprightly turn and Good 
[abilities?] As The Necessity of appoint- 
ing a Consul at Ostend is a Subject of 

which the President is to Judge I have 
14 



204 ^}i)c Huntington Cettcrs. 

send you the Original Letter and kept 
only a Copy & Submit the Propriety of 
laying it before the President to your Dis- 
retion — 

I am with Great Respect 

Sir your Most hum^ Serv* 

B H 
His Excy Thqs Jefferson 
SeCT of State 



^[)t Huntington £etter0. 205 



VII. 

Q Hartford 2g^^ Jmie lyg^ — 

I propose to g^o to Boston in a few days 
on some Special Business and as I have 
not been there since since the year 1772, 
in which time almost all my old acquaint- 
ance are either dead or gone away, I there- 
fore beg the favour of you that you would 
be so good as to give me a few Lines to 
his Excellency John Adams to assist me 
in his friendly advice if need be, Relative 
to the business I am going upon, your 
compliance will much Oblige your Hum : 
Sert 
in hast at the ferry 5 oClock — A. m. 

P S. the Stage is this moment gone into 
the boat without my Letter I have now 
before another oppertunity presents, Just 
to give you a hint of the business I am 



2o6 @:i)e ^untingtcn £ettere» 

going upon to Boston (viz) the old Mis- 
sisippi Lands said to be obtaind by Gen- 
eral Lyman before the year 1772 & which 
is now about to be reviv'd again, and I 
believe from what I have heard that there 
is yet some Probibility of making some- 
thing out of that affair, but more of this 
when I shall have the pleasure to See you, 
1 wrote Govenor Huntington Last week, 
but afterwards understood his Excely was 
gone to New Haven, but my Letter is 
now Lodg'd at the Gov'' House in order 
to procure a Letter to Gov"^ Adams in 
Boston I wish you would speak with 
Gov^ Huntington to give me as good a 
Letter to Gov^ Adams as he thinks best 
as also one to President Adams if he 
Judges it proper. I formerly shew those 
Missisippi papers (Now by me) to Judge 
Jay Docf^ Franklin, Gov'^ Livingston, the 
Honble. W^^ Smith DoC^ Johnston & the 
Hon^ie Richard Law, Gov^ Handcock 
Gov^ Adams the Hon^ie James Dewane of 



S^l)e i5untin9t0n betters. 207 

New York and Mathew Clarkson Esq^ in 
Philadelphia who all of them gave it as 
their oppinion, that perhaps something 
might arise out of these papers Concern- 
ing the before mentioned Grant to Geni 
Lyman & that might be of some conse- 
quence to those original Proprietors that 
first embarked in said Missisippi scheam, 
and sent Gen^ Lyman over to England to 
Solicitt a Grant from the Crown of the 
afore said Lands on the E. Bank of the 
River Missisippi and as his Excellencys 
& your names (I think) are Entered on 
the Book Containing the Records & names 
of the Old Proprietors, as also Gov' 
Handcock, Gov'^ Adams, Gov'^ Livingston, 
Docf^ Franklin, Gov' Franklin Gov' Oli- 
ver, Mathew Clarkson Esq'- now Mayor of 
the City of Philadelphia, John Foxcraft 
Esq' Late Postmaster Gen^, with DoC 
Franklin &c &c &c, as also some hundred 
scattered from the River S^ Croix to Sa- 
vannah in Georgia and many of the first 



2o8 gClje f tttttittjgton betters. 

Characters in these States as also in Eng;- 
land, Ireland, & Scotland are are also 
amongst the Proprietors of the Grant said 
to be obtained on the E. Bank of the 
River Missisippi by Gen* Lyman, & his 
associates, Doctr Johnston, & the Hon^i 
Richard Law are also both of them pro- 
prietors in said Grant, and Now Sir, as I 
had not time when I wrote Gov'^ Hunting- 
ton, I wish you would be so kind as to go 
to him when he returns from New Haven 
and Shew him what I have wrote you and 
that you would also desire the Gov^ to 
give me as good as a Letter as he Can to 
Gov'^ Adams and also to the Hon^i John 
Adams, your attention to the Above will 
add to the many favours already received, 
by Sir 

Your Very Hum : Ser* 

H : Ledlie 

N : B Sr as I purpose With the Line of 
proveidence to Sett off for Boston, by the 



QL[)c ^nntin%ton Cetters. 209 

first or mieddell of next Week you^ plese 
to Return me an answer to What I now 
Write you togeather With His Exe . . cys 
& your Letters this Week or if the gov' 
Should not Return time enough from N 
haven or that no oppertunety Either pub- 
lick or priviett presents then in that Case 
if you or the gov"" Will Send S^ Letters to 
me at or Monday the 13th of July nixt I 
Will pay the bearrer of S^ Letters or his 
Excellency or you therefore all the prince- 
pall Gentellmin in this &. the neighbour- 
ing States Were Conserned in y^ above 
Grant. H. L. 

June 6th Since : Writting the above at 
which time & Since I Could hear Nothing 
Conserning which Way his Exe^cy our 
Gov' intended to Return home from N 
Haven by yesterday I Saw Co^^ Grese- 
ciner at our meetting who informed me 
for the first time, altho I have Repietted- 
ely Sent to Cap^ bulls the gov's usuall 



2IO gclje Huntington Cett^rs. 

Loadgings that his Excell . . cy Was gone 
home by the Way of Seabrook & conce- 
quently Would not Return this Way I 
therefore Embrace this oppertunety by the 
Way of the Norwich Stadge to Send for- 
weard this Letter & have promised him a 
Reward Exclucsive of postedge provieded 
he Will bring me an answer, as Well from 
the gov"" & also from you N : B there is 
Contin^i in the above grant to Gener^ Ly- 
man on the E bank of the River: Missippie 
ab^ tweenty two millions of (Acres) So 
that the above Spackeuliation (Will) farre 
Exceed anything of the Kind that Ever 
Eithier M' Judge Willison or M^ Rob' 
Morris Were Ever conserned in, it begins 
N on the River Yesua [?] & extends S from 
the Lattude of 31 N to 32 S on the River 
Missippie & I Verieley belive by the beste 
& most (akkurate) information I Can gett 
there is Some prospact of obetinninge & 
Making Something of the above grant if it 
is Reguelerly & properely prefered — but I 



^\)c ftintington Cetters. 211 

shall no more of this & which I Will Com- 
munacatt to you & his Excei^cy When I 
Return With the Line of proviedence 
from boston S^ as I Write this in very 
great hurrey you Will plese to excuse the 
bad Writting Spelling Dicksion & gramer 
and as I sepose by What Co^^ Greseciner 
told me yesterday that the governor gott 
home Last Satturday Evining I must Just 
take the Liberty to Desier you Would be 
So good on the Recp* of this to Step 
Down to the governors & Shew him this 
my Letter to you which togeather With 
What I Wrott his Exciellincy the 29th of 
June last Will give Him a More particular 
Nerretive of what I mean ab^ the Lands 
on the River Missippie then What I Wrott 
him as above I am S^^ as before &c 
your Hone's Most Humble 

Servant in great hast 

H: Ledlie 
Honorable Binjemin Huntington Esq» 
Norwich. 



212 ^[)c Huntington betters. 



VIII. 

Mansfield t^e iS^^ Octobr ijqq 

Dear S^^ 

I begin my letter now knowing- of any 
Oppertunity not how I shall get it to you 
but propose to Send it to Cap^ Gurdon 
your Son expecting that it is the most 
provable Way to get it to you. Our long 
Aquaintance, & as I have Reason to con- 
clude, our near Friendship & Connection 
create in me a Strong Desire of letting 
you know that Friendship has not abated 
on my Part, hope it has not on Yours & 
that I ardently desire to hear from you, & 
know Somithing about you, how you are, 
where you are & of your State of Health, 
I Suppose let you be where You will You 
have the Satisfaction of the Company & 



^}^c ^nntington Cetters. 213 

Society of your Childred, who in Case 
they have that filial Respect for you that 
markt thare former Conduckt towards you 
it must yeld You an agreable Satisfaction 
& Consolation in your Solitary State let 
You be in what part of the World So- 
ever. I part with one near Friend alter 
another last Week I attended the Fue- 
neral of my Friend the Rev^ m^ John 
Storrs, whose Company and Society used 
in time pass to be agreeable, liveing lattar- 
ly in the Same Society. Your Sister con- 
tinues much in the Same State She was in 
before you went to the Westward, except 
that her Fitts are more frequent tho not So 
hard. Was Advised last Winter by Sundry 
Phisicians to take a lengthey Journey with 
her into the Cuntry, accordingly this 
Spring I let out my Farm disengaged my 
Self from Buisnes & Set out on the 28* 
of May last to the Northward, We Steard 
our Course to Strike Connecticut River 
as Soon as conveniant, came on its Banks 



214 @^l)e jguntinston Cetters. 

at Infield in this State & continued on the 
Bank as nearly as convenient to Lebanon 
Newhampshire where I had many Friends 
& Relatives we taried there allmost a 
Week & then passed through Dartmouth 
crossing the Bridg there & proseeded 
Westward part of the Way on White 
River to Randolf in Vermont on our Way 
there we past by Salle & Phyle that were 
Brother Huntingtons Childred, as allso 
Spencer who is Setled in Lebanon in the 
Sadling Buisness on the River, Salle in a 
Town called Bethel, and Phile in Norwich 
all of which are in comfortable Health, 
But at Randolf I found my Brother Aaron 
& Sister & other Friends where we Taried 
for about three Weeks on a good Soil & 
among a very Industrious People, It is but 
17 Years Since they began to Settle here 
they have now 2 Companies of Trained 
Soldjers of more than 74 Men in each, 
likewise an Artilery Compy & a Cannon 
made of wrought Iron about 3 Feet in 



®l)e Huntington fetters. 215 

Length, mounted on Cariage which on the 
4th July they put to Service, that Day 
they Observ^ in as conspiciuous a Manner 
as is observ^ in New York or Philadel- 
phia & in Immitation of those Places. 
You are Sensable there is a Mountiain 
passing about N & S through the State 
of Vermont on the E Side the Mountain 
they are allmost unanimously good loyal 
Federalists, love their Cuntry, are Indus- 
trious & healthy & Despise the Polloticks 
of the W Side who. many of them are 
Jacobites or Ante Federalists as is Said, 
But Vermont is a fine growing State 
they really have a most excellent Soil for 
Wheat & Grazing it does now allmost & 
will Soon excel any State in the Union for 
Raising excellent Horse & Cattle & most 
excellent for Dayries It is not uncommon 
for their Cows to fill a common pail at a 
Meal & more, 20 Cows will yield 20 Pails 
of Milk, or their abouts, of the best which 
you are Sensable makes the best Butter 



2i6 QL[)c Huntington £etters. 

or Cheese .... But I am wearing You I 
Doubt with Observations on Vermont . . 
After we had taried there about 3 Weeks 
We Sot out towards Home came down 
White River crost the Bridg at Dart- 
mouth came back to Lebanon New Hamp- 
shire where we taried about 2 Weeks 
among our Friends & Aquaintance while 
we were there I heard M'* Aaron Cleave- 
land Preach in that Place, who has a 
lisence for Preaching & makes that his 
Buisnes. . . After finishing our Visit in 
Lebanon we Sat off down the River came 
on the E Side to Wallpole where we crost 
on the Bridg & came on the W Side as 
far as Northampton then took a Post or a 
Turnpike Road & Traveld West about 40 
Miles to Pitts Field, Thence through Bar- 
rington Stockbridg & Lenox to Sandis- 
field to my Brother Eleazar where we 
taried about a Week & then Returned 
Home through Hartford got Home about 
the midle of August, your Sister was bet- 



S[l)e Huntington £etter0. 217 

ter while on our Journey, tho had Some 
poor Turns & Seemd better for a time 
after our Return Home, But her ill Turns 
Still continue & I know not now that She 
is better than when we Sot out on our 
Journey — However Despicable the State 
of Newhampshire might be in their In- 
fancy, I Some how or other have got 
mutch attacht to their Manners & Gov- 
ernment I had an Oppertunity of Seeing 
their last revised Laws & the Journals of 
their Assemblies for two Sessions I think 
they Discover as great Wisdom Justice 
Regularity & Prudence as any State on 
the Continent I must confess more pleas- 
ing to me & I think the Subjects are 
happey under a Wise Administration of 
Government, While at Lebanon, I Visited 
our old Friend Col^ Pain whose head is 
ornamented with those Silver Locks that 
adorn the old Man, he retains the Frank- 
nes & Hospitallity which markt his Car- 
ackter in younger years — tells me that he 



2i8 @:i)e Huntington betters. 

Intends to obtain a Turnpike Road from 
Portsmouth to Dartmouth to pass near his 
Hous & then he has done with all publick 
Buisnes . . I believe that we Scarsly past 
any Town either goeing up along the 
River or in the State of Vermont & So 
on to Pittsfield & through Barrington but 
in allmost & I know not but in quite 
one, their is a revival of Religion espe- 
cially among the younger Sort of People, 
Some Places more & Some less. They As- 
semble in Conferences (1/2) a Day in a Week 
& perhaps one or two evenings in each 
Week. Old M"" Tim^ Allen with whome 
we taried one Night Says he thinks So 
general a Concarn on the Minds of the 
People indicates that the Days of Mileni- 
um are comminsing. — We have had I be- 
lieve with us a fruitfuU Summer & plenti- 
fuU Harvest, But I believe the Demands 
in Market are but small — I have not ben 
in Norwich Since you went from there & 
have not heard anything More from you 



®I)e jgnntington £cuers. 219 

than that the Water at the Pool in New 
Lebanon was Some benefit to you, I reall}^ 
am Desirous of hearing from you & your 
dear Children with You, Your Sister De- 
sires to be rememberd to You & to your 
Children & wants to hear from them & 
from you in Case it may be Agreeable. — 
Friends at three or fourscore years old I 
think are necesitated to Retain their So- 
ciety & Friendship, for enexorable Death 
is continually lopping off one after an- 
other, untill by our Age We have but 
few of our Cotemporariries left, he that 
lives the longest has the Most Friends 
generally to Bemoan, But that my dear 
Sir is not much Matter provided we So 
live here that we may meet in a better 
World than this, where all the Interven- 
tions of Friendship Shall cease & We 
Shall Se as we are Seen & know as we 
are known, I Still continue in great Meas- 
ure confind at Home, very rarely go 
abroad without M^s Storrs & am allmost 
15 



220 3i:i)e Huntington Cetters. 

Discouraged with respect to her ever 
ariveing to a comfortable State of Health, 
But as my Name is pritty much So has 
the Visisitudes of Fortune ben with me 
through Life, But it is true in general 
that Experience is the best Schole Master, 
but unless I make a profitable Improve- 
ment of the advers Dispensations of Prov- 
idence towards me, these Troubles I now 
feel & are (daily conversant) with, will be 
greatly to my hurt & Disadvantage — I 
hope in Case (this letter) reaches You 
that you will be kind enough to to let me 
hear from my ever dear Friend. untill 
then I remain Dear S^'" your near Friend 
& Affectionate 

Brother Exp Storrs 

HoN^LE Benjn Huntington Esq 



THE END, 



